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“It’s so easy for a kid to join a gang, to do drugs...we should
make it that easy to be involved in football and academ-
ics. Sometimes a loss is the best thing that can happen. It
can teach you what you should have done – and what you
should do next time.”

“If it’s flipping hamburgers at McDonald’s, be the best
hamburger flipper in the world. Whatever you do, you
have to master your craft.”

In 2012, Snoop Dogg announced, in conjunction with his first
reggae album, that he was changing his name to Snoop Lion.
Promoting the album Reincarnation on the Howard Stern Show,
Snoop explained:

“Growing up in the environment I came from, I am not
proud of all I did. But it was a learning experience...Snoop
Lion is like a transformation for me. My role models and
mentors used to be drug dealers and gangsters. Now I
certified football coach and avid sports fan (including football, am feeding off positive energy. Going to jail showed me a
hockey, and baseball). place that I did not want to be.”
“Football coaches – not rap stars or musicians – helped Snoop’s Empowering Thought: “Sometimes a loss is
make me in the long run. They were my true mentors. the best thing that can happen. It can teach you what you
I want to give something back – to give these kids some- should have done and what you should do next time.”
thing I never had.”
Do It Daily:
“It is very important for kids to have mentors and role models. I
try to let each kid get to know me as a person; then he can trust Go all out. Whatever it is you do, become a master of your
me. They need to have someone they can talk to.” craft. Remember that how you do anything is how you should do
everything. Whether big or small, take the time and devote the
“I asked one kid who wasn’t really good enough to be on the energy to be the best in all you do.
team if he wanted to be the water boy. He said yes—and he
learned what football was all about. The next year he was the Learn from your past to build a better future. Recognize
most valuable player on the team! Now that’s what it’s all about.” that mistakes and bad decisions are simply part of the journey.
But what you take away from those decisions is what can be the
“I want the best for the kids. I want to see who will be the next difference in what you can accomplish much later in your life. 
superstar. You don’t need to be the best football player. If you
have the heart and desire, you can really enjoy the game and
be successful.”

“I would tell you to pass this along to your readers: if a kid
can have a winning attitude in any sport, or in school, or
in anything he tries, he can certainly be a winner!”

This holds true for Snoop’s own son. As I was updating the sto-
ries for this book, I learned that Snoop’s philosophy has paid off.
His son Cordell, a high school senior at the time this book went
to press, is on the top national recruiting list for college football
wide receivers, being recruited by some of the nation’s top pro-
grams including LSU, Baylor, Notre Dame and Florida State. In
February 2015, he committed to playing for UCLA. Snoop with AMM Publisher Michael Reiss.

Despite the concerns some people have with Snoop, you can see Jerry Gladstone is the author of the international
through his better-known quotes that he has tried to empower best selling book, The Common Thread of Over-
youth over the years: coming Adversity and Living Your Dreams. Jerry is
a success and life coach as well as a corporate speaker.
“Love goes unappreciated a lot of times, but you still gotta TheCommonThreadGroup.com
keep giving it.”

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