A 9-year-old Los Angeles football player has become perhaps the youngest person to sign a Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deal with a sports agency. KTLA reported that Ghalee Wadood Jr., who plays in Snoop Dogg’s Youth Football League, signed a deal worth six figures with Family 4 Life.
“It’s kinda surreal,” Ghalee Wadood Sr., who is an employee of the Los Angeles Rams, said to KTLA. “It’s humbling and exciting for [the agency] to see his potential and want to manage him.”
Family 4 Life represents players from NFL teams such as the New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants, according to the news outlet.
Snoop Dogg tweeted about the news after the KTLA article was published:
SYFL 💙 🙏🏿 🏈 https://t.co/1lpb7yvq8t
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) June 23, 2023
Wadood Jr. was named Snoop’s MVP of the youth league in his first year, an award that usually goes to older players. The league, which has been active since 2005 and is tailored toward youth football and cheer programs, has alumni including NFL players JuJu Smith-Schuster and Daiyan Henley.
In addition to football, Wadood Jr. competes in baseball, track and karate, his dad told the news outlet.
With this massive amount of money, Wadood Jr. is entering a new world brought about by the onset of NIL money in amateur sports. See highlights from six months ago, when he was eight years old, here: