This story first appeared on theScore esports.
Between playing professional football, owning a professional Call of Duty team and running a record label, Rodger Saffold has a lot on the go.
When he's not competing on the gridiron for the Los Angeles Rams, he's helping run Rise Nation, one of North America's biggest competitive Call of Duty teams. Before he set off to take part in training camp, Saffold spoke to theScore esports about Rise Nation, his interest in esports and why he thinks the scene is becoming more attractive to professional athletes.
How long have you been into videogames?
I think my whole life, I mean honestly whenever I got the chance. I played Super Mario Bros., which was the first game I played and I was really really young. I used to play it in my sister's room, and then I kinda got hooked.
What games are you playing now then?
Mostly Call of Duty, adventure games, I kind of go with the trends so I've started to get into PC games a little bit.
What are your thoughts on esports' growth over the past couple of years? What are your expectations for esports in the future?
I think it's a lot more connected. The players and the leagues and everything, I feel like it's just a better way for all of them to get connected. I see it being possibly one of the biggest, [most] profitable enterprises in the world, because in this generation everything is about computers, phones, technology, and I don't see it doing anything but continuing to grow fast.
How did you first get involved with esports?
I was on Twitch and I was playing Call of Duty, and you know, I play with a couple friends and we play Call of Duty a lot. One of my followers was like 'Hey you guys should make a team' and we started thinking about it, going through how much it would cost and eventually we were like "Yeah, we could do this." So as soon as I got the go ahead, I just went ahead and decided "Hey, we could do this" and we'll see how we can build it and from there I kind of fell into it.
Which Call of Duty game is your favourite, then?
I'd probably say Call of Duty 4, Modern Warfare.
Any particular reason?
That was the one that I played for the first time, and I think that it's probably the best Call of Duty in the series because it just ran the smoothest.
Jumping back to esports a little bit, we've got other big name athletes like Shaq, Rick Fox and A-Rod getting involved as owners and investors. Why do you think it's now that other athletes are suddenly getting involved?
Because of how profitable it is, a lot of these guys are getting into more of like, [it] almost seems like corporations...because it's just growing exponentially. For me, it's something that I was passionate about, so this is just one of those examples [of] a good investment paying off.
Do you think any NFL teams or other players are going to get involved with esports in the future?
I've already heard that the owner of the Miami Dolphins has gotten involved and he's purchased a team, so it's pretty much endless. It seems like anybody can get involved, anybody can do it and make it their own. I know for me, I look at trends and I look at the way things are going. I try to make the best relationships that I possibly can and try to put my team and myself in the best position possible to be successful. I go after players and managers that are well known within their league, their circle, and then I gain the trust of those individuals and I'm able to get the best out of them. [Rise Nation's other co-owner] Kahreem was a pro player at Call of Duty 4, so through working with him we have been able to get good connections with players because players can relate to him because he's done it before.
I try to do that, you know we have an Overwatch team now and our managers are the same way on that side. Pretty much whatever we get into, we just want to be able to have the best people that are a part of it.
How involved would you say you are with how the team plays? Do you provide any coaching or do you just let them do their own thing and encourage them from the sidelines?
I would say I'm pretty involved, you know I pretty much watch everything I can. My life has picked up tremendously with my move to LA, and that being interviews, reality shows, just a lot of media through moving to LA. So it's harder and harder. I continue to try and be as involved as I possibly can but I also understand that I'm way too busy to get ahead of the day to day operations that go on.
Given that you play for the LA Rams, how do you find balance between managing an esports team and playing pro football?
It's funny that you say that because I literally continue to change hands. sometimes I have something with the Rams, sometimes I have something with the team, and it seems like over and over again I'm always having to change hands when it comes to these interviews. You know I do an interview with you, and the day after I do an interview about football, so it's like, everything is just growing so fast. You know my career's got me as busy as ever, but you know with this and my record label and everything just kind of growing big and expanding at a rapid pace, I'd say it's pretty hectic. But that's why I have managers, [they] have been helping me a lot. You know I've got Kahreem acting as a co-owner as well as a manager, and I also have a manager on my other side. I have two managers on the other side making sure that my artists are taken care of and we have the schedules for everything, so it's pretty ridiculous.
Have the Rams picked your brain a bit about the esports landscape?
They have no idea. Every time I tell them anything they're just so amazed. So honestly, I need to spread awareness.
Do they have any interest in getting involved with it?
They say that, but they haven't seen it or been a part of it enough to really know, and then you know when you start bringing in cheques, then everybody's so curious.
Are any of your teammates big gamers?
Mostly it'd probably be me, there's definitely a handful I would say. But you know when you're playing Call of Duty, as soon as somebody says "it's their favorite game to play, it's hardcore", I immediately stop listening to them.
So do they mostly play CoD then or do they play other things?
They definitely play CoD. They definitely play Madden. I don't play Madden because I live that, and I don't want to play football after I've been playing football for 17 or 18 hours.
Aside from the obvious element that esports are videogames and regular sports are physical competitions, what are the biggest differences you've seen between the two industries?
Well, I would say that every part of the process in esports is always in your face. I mean there's always media around while football is kind of behind the scenes, nobody really sees the practices, nobody really sees the scrims between ourselves and all that. Everything with esports is either online where you can see guys practicing, then you go and see them at events and competitions where football is kind of just like, every Sunday you know it's coming on, you know where to tune in. But esports is just always there, it's like everybody knows what's happening, what's the next move, but for football, it's sort of like, "show up on Sunday and prove to me how well you've been doing."
So whereas with esports where you can always see them practicing and things like that?
Yeah, everything is either always getting streamed or being televised and with football and sports in general, it's just different. Of course they've got NBA TV, NFL Live and all that stuff, but nobody really knows what's truly going on with a player or with a team until things happen on Sunday.
Do you feel that there are any transferable skills between sports and esports?
Yeah. Focus, communication, drive, leadership, pretty much the intangibles that you get from sports you can definitely put into esports. You don't really have to worry about much physical stuff with esports.
You guys have just recently picked up an Overwatch team, what led you to get involved with this game versus other options like CS:GO?
Well, CS:GO was in the making but it just didn't feel right. It didn't feel like it was the right time, so I held off on it and there are definitely opportunities for opening up with that. But for Overwatch, we saw the trend and knew they were on the right path. Things were going really well. The next thing to do was find a team. We found great players, we needed to finish building the team, they finally finished building the team, they were finally able to play together, and they're actually really good.
I'm definitely excited to see what these guys can do, and it's gonna blow up. I mean Overwatch is going to be really good. They had that patch recently and that did very well, so I can see this getting just as big as CoD or CS:GO. I mean, there's definitely room for many different avenues to create profit out of that game. You got six players which makes it a lot harder dealing with communication, different abilities, everybody staying on the same page, and it's a blast to watch too. It's fun to play. I've played it, so we basically just did our research and came to think that "Hey, we could definitely get into this" and the team that we have we're very happy with, so we'll see how it goes.
Jumping back to your CoD team, how are you feeling about Rise going into Champs in September?
Our team has done pretty well, it seems like every NA event we've either been first, second or third which is extremely [good] — that's a great year for a team. So going into Champs, we just expect them to continue to grind, and everything, and by September, being able to have a great possibility to win Champs. We're definitely going to think that we're winning, we're never going to be like "Oh just do the best we can and get burned." No, that's not in my DNA. My guys wanna win, we wanna win. Orlando is going to be another good test for them to see where they're at, how hard they can push towards Champs, so I'm actually very confident in my team. Extremely confident.
Do you have any plans on subbing in for a match or two in the future?
I've actually played with these guys a bunch, I'd say close to double negative. I don't know, I don't get anywhere close to these guys. Usually when I get on the game, I'm happy to get my 25 kills.
