The magical story of EPL’s Clint Dempsey
Roar Pro By drew777, 15 Aug 2009 drew777 is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- Clint Dempsey, English Premier League, football, Fullam, World Football
Few people, other than Fulham fans, will recognise the name Clint Dempsey. Unfairly so. Who is he? An American, which is what makes his story even more amazing.
He plays right midfield/wing for Fulham and USA, and also dabbles as a forward. He has blistering pace and has become a fan favourite at Craven Cottage over the years since he first signed in 2007.
Dempsey has just signed a contract extension for Fullam and will remain at the club until 2013.
Now, go and search Youtube for some footage of Dempsey, and you will find not only a great player, but also a rap video.
Yes, that’s right. Clint Dempsey, AKA Deuce, raps. The song is called “Don’t T” and is a good song. Not what you were expecting in an article about a near unknown player in Australia, right?
Now, imagine this. Dempsey grew up in a small town in Texas, living in his family’s trailer. He was the fourth of five children. He had to drive three hours to Dallas to play football for a club team. This trip happened three to four times per week.
Clint almost lost his chance at becoming a professional. His sister became a very good tennis player and his parents had to pull him from football in Dallas to pay for her travelling expenses.
Dempsey went from club football to social kick-abouts with the local lads.
Incidentally, his sister developed a brain aneurysm and passed away. Now, did you see Clint look to the sky in his goal celebrations? Well, that is why.
And did you listen to his song? It was dedicated to his sister.
I would love to see this guy come down under one day to play for an A-League club. He is an inspirational bloke, and if more people knew his story, I’m sure they would crave his presence in the A-League, too.
Recommend this story.
The Crowd Says (6) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
- Explore:
- Clint Dempsey, English Premier League, football, Fullam, World Football
August 15th 2009 @ 10:20am
Koala Bear said | August 15th 2009 @ 10:20am | Report comment
Yes Dempsey is one of America’s Footballing Super Stars … I saw a profile done on his early life in Texas as you have written … His performances for Fulham and the USA in the recent Confederation’s Cup have been of the highest quality … It would be great to see him play in Australia, but I think he would prefer to play in the MSL as it should be…
~~~~~~~
KB
August 15th 2009 @ 11:15am
Luke W said | August 15th 2009 @ 11:15am | Report comment
Great article. I thought that Dempsey was one of the main reasons Fulham pushed up the table last year (along with Hangeland and Schwarzer), though I didn’t realise he was American until I saw him at the Confederations Cup. A great story and a great talent.
August 15th 2009 @ 3:03pm
Ghost said | August 15th 2009 @ 3:03pm | Report comment
Nice story mate… I think there is some quality in the US team and Dempsey is certainly part of that.
More generally I also think we should have a bit more of a regular peek at the US scene in our deliberations. A domestic league that has grown slowly but surely in both quality and commercial metrics despite being sport #4 or #5 in the country, and a national team that is playing more and more credibly and is well entrenched now in the world’s top 20 – plus draws from a mixture of ‘star’ American playing in Europe, and the cream of that domestic league of theirs.
Those are circumstances and objectives that we in Australia should not ignore. In fact for my money I’d like to see the A-League work its ass off to have as much to do as possible with the J-League and the MLS, to me they are the two key leagues to interact with, learn from, and play against in the next decade.
Putting a practical suggestion on the table if I were in the FFA I’d want to discuss the following – each year a friendly between the USA and Australian national teams, and also a game between the MLS and A-League champions. One to be held in the USA and the other in Australia each year. Every second year you’d switch where the games were (ie if the international was in the US and the league champ game in Oz in year 1, then in year 2 the international would be here and the league champs would play in an American city). The only reason I don’t suggest the same with Japan is that we play them in internationals and ACL already via our Asian confederation membership.
August 17th 2009 @ 11:05am
drew777 said | August 17th 2009 @ 11:05am | Report comment
Ghost-
I love the idea.
All Aussies love a rivalry, and building another with the States would be nothing more than brilliant. We should lobby FFA to push for it, ay?
August 17th 2009 @ 11:03pm
Adam said | August 17th 2009 @ 11:03pm | Report comment
a feature story I wrote after spending time with Clint at the end of the 08 season. may be of interest to your readers:
http://www.thisisamericansoccer.com/tias-special-guests/the-game-dont-care-6/
January 19th 2010 @ 7:52am
Trixie said | January 19th 2010 @ 7:52am | Report comment
Great article, Adam…..holding my breath for the scan results.