Dempsey profile

Wayne Drehs profiles Clint Dempsey for ESPN, the only Texan on the national team.

The Clint Dempsey story is nothing new in professional sports. Talented athlete overcomes humble background to become a star in the sport he loves. But it is unique for American soccer.

American soccer stars don't grow up in a trailer in their grandparents' backyard in East Texas, learning the game from the Hispanic kids in their neighborhood. They don't grow up playing on dirt fields, kicking rock-hard basketballs with their bare feet while using T-shirts and socks as the outline for goals. And if they do somehow, someway overcome all that to make it to the big time, they don't make a rap video when they get there, sharing their life story in a head-bobbing hip-hop tune for Nike that shows up on BET and becomes the soul of the shoe conglomerate's U.S. World Cup promotional campaign.