'Snoop & Son' documentary series to premiere on ESPN

Snoop Dogg and Archie Manning would appear to have little in common, other than talented football-playing sons.

But the hip-hop star was so impressed by the work documentarian Rory Karpf did on the 2013 film "The Book of Manning'' about Archie and his family that he sought out Karpf for his own project.

The result, "Snoop & Son: A Dad's Dream," premieres at 7 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN and, let's just say the feel is slightly less conventional than that of "The Book of Manning."

Example: Mr. Dogg is joined in the stands by the likes of Flavor Flav and UFC president Dana White as they watch Snoop's son, Cordell Broadus, play receiver for Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas this past season.

"When I saw 'The Book of Manning' I fell in love with his work," Snoop Dogg said at a recent screening of his series at the College Football Hall of Fame. "I know Archie, I know Peyton and I know Eli. Just to see the way he told the story and seeing how it was like a father's dream, it was like my story and I was like, if I could do it, I'd love to do it with him, because he knows how to bring out that emotion that's needed for this kind of story."

ESPN officially is calling this a "documentary-style series," a nod to the editorial involvement Snoop Dogg had in it. Not that he has much to hide.

Here he is discussing his advice to Cordell regarding marijuana: "It's good for me, but it's bad for you."

The series runs for four Wednesdays, then concludes with a fifth episode in mid-February, presumably after Cordell has signed with a college. Dad has a soft spot for USC.

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.