YouTube stars keep finding new ways to break into professional sports. One month after scoring two goals in a charity soccer match, Tobi Brown is getting a trial with a professional club. The Sidemen member, also known as TBJZL (pronounced “tobe-jizzle”), will train at Crawley Town F.C. alongside his brothers Manny and Jed.
Like the other members of the Sidemen, TBJZL is an avid soccer fan and a skilled player by amateur standards. The brace he scored during the latest Sidemen charity event must have impressed the Crawley Town scout who attended the match. The English club plays in League Two, which is the third-highest division of professional soccer in England.
Given the level of play in League Two, the Brown boys are unlikely to make anything of their trials, and Crawley Town’s Co-Chairman admitted as much. “As we’ve said before, it’s fairly unlikely they’d get on the pitch unless the game is well in hand,” Preston Johnson said in a statement, “but we want to give them the opportunity to show [manager Lewis Young] and the staff what they can do in training and then go from there.”
TBJZL’s brothers are not official members of the Sidemen, but they’re not nobodies, either. Manny Brown reaches about two million subscribers on YouTube, where his fans tune in for his FIFA content. Jed has appeared in videos with his brothers.
The Browns are not the first creators to test their skills against professionals. The influencer boxing trend has pitted YouTubers against pro fighters, and basketball videomaker Jesser got a look from the Golden State Warriors earlier this year.
In the cases of Jesser and TBJZL, pro contracts are unlikely, but the clubs offering these trials will be more than happy if all they get is extra exposure. That’s also why a club in England added the Sidemen fried chicken business as the sponsor of its shirts.
If you want to know why exactly the Sidemen are so popular, you can check out their recent video featuring MrBeast. The British septet have drawn inspiration from their North Carolina-based counterpart, and he is taking cues from them, too. One of his new uploads featured a decidedly Sidemen-esque conceit. Given how popular the supergroup is, MrBeast’s move makes perfect sense.
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