The 'Doggfather's youth football team will play at Raines High the day before the big game.
By Alex Abrams / The Times-Union
Look out, Jack Del Rio. There is a new coach coming to town, and this one sports cornrows, bodyguards and enough sayings to fill up a playbook. Snoop Dogg, the multi-platinum rapper, actor and self proclaimed "Doggfather," announced Monday that he is bringing his youth football team- The Snoop Dogg All-Stars- to Jacksonville for a charity game in February. The inaugural game, appropriately titled the Snooper Bowl, will pit Snoop Dogg's team against a local all-star team on Feb. 5, the day before the Super Bowl XXXIX. It will be played at Raines High School. "I coached back in Long Beach, California. But why not bring [the game] to town where they're having the Super Bowl at this year and let the kids be a part of it?" Snoop Dogg said at a news conference at Kitchings Stadium on the campus of Raines High School. "We just wanted to bring it out here and show some love." Snoop Dogg's two sons- nick-names Spanky and Little Snoop- are expected to play quarterback and wide receiver on the team, while their famous father works the sidelines. So what kind of coach is Snoop Dogg, the laid-back rapper who is credited with popularizing "Snoop Speak," in which Z's and L's are added to the ends of words? "I'm like Tom Landry," Snoop said noting that he dresses for the part by wearing a hat. F'shizzle ("for sure"). Sporting a No. 12 black Jaguars jersey, Snoop Dogg danced as the Raines marching band played to welcome his entrance. And the rapper, whose album The Hard Way- a collaboration with Warren G and nate Dogg- hits stores today, posed for photographs with the Raines football team. "Sometimes you've got to make the kids feel a part of this, and they are. So bringing something like this to the community makes them feel like they can do it," Snoop Dogg said. "It's inspiring." The Snooper Bowl is expected to raise money for Snoop's Save-a-Life Foundation, as well as help fund Raines' mentoring programs, teacher workshops and academic student efforts. "Raines High School is pleased to host the inaugural Snooper Bowl," Raines Principal Carol Daniels said. "This is a very important event to our school because it allows us to show what Raines is all about- academics." But there will be one refreshment noticeably missing from the Snooper Bowl. "Just juice, no gin," Snoop said, making reference to his hot song Gin & Juice. But Snoop Dogg's stop in Jacksonville was brief. He was expected to visit the Jaguars Monday evening before heading to West Palm Beach to rejoin bands Korn and Linkin Park on a concert tour. "You know me, I'm still on the move. Church on the move, that's our slogan," Snoop Dogg said, cracking his trademark smile.
