CJ Stroud Bravely Talks About Cultural Issues That Still Haunt the Black Community; “You Feel Peer Pressure”

Nidhi | 06/06/2024
CJ Stroud Boasts About the Time He Outplayed Miami Heats Rookie In a High School Basketball Game Before His NBA All-Star Appearance

CJ Stroud might be just 22 years of age, but that doesn’t stop him from talking about the topics he’s passionate about. He’s often talked about how the prison system in America is flawed and persecutes black people harshly. This time, however, he went a little closer to home and got real about the things he sees as an issue in his own culture.

Appearing on the latest episode of Millions Dollaz Worth Pod, the young QB talked about his experience going back home now that he’s made it in the big leagues:

“People put their expectations on you, like now that we made it, come home…It’s come to a point where like if you don’t go it’s ‘oh he’s changed up, he weird now…I feel like as a culture that’s a problem we internally have…bag on those or start roasting those or doing uncalled for stuff, gossiping… now you feel peer pressure to go.”

Stroud mentions feeling pressure from his extended family back home to visit often, which he is not able to do because of his career. However, he says things don’t just stop there, if he stops visiting, people start gossiping and saying mean things about him, claiming that his success has gotten to him.
The hosts of the show and Stroud tackled this topic and shared how each of their experiences were similar when it came to this. As much as they would like to visit home often, they are not able to and are not able to cater to their extended family as well. This leads to festering ill-will between family that starts with gossip.

Familial Pressure Around Money

According to the hosts and Stroud, the strife between those who leave their communities to find success elsewhere and the communities they leave behind gets even more complicated as money enters the equation. With success, they say, comes the expectation of lavish gifts and monetary benefits.

But as the hosts point out, the money they make, while a step up from their modest beginnings, is not enough to sustain their immediate families. It can be daunting and scary to criticize your own communities and families like that, but as we’ve seen before, the Texans QB is not really afraid to speak his mind.

Post Edited By: Nidhi
CJ Stroud Houston Texans

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Nidhi

Nidhi is an NFL Editor for The SportsRush. Her interest in NFL began with 'The Blindside' and has been working as an NFL journalist for the past year. As an athlete herself, she uses her personal experience to cover sports immaculately. She is a graduate of English Literature and when not doing deep dives into Mahomes' latest family drama, she inhales books on her kindle like nobody's business. She is proud that she recognised Travis Kelce's charm (like many other NFL fangirls) way before Taylor Swift did, and is waiting with bated breath for the new album to drop.

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