How old is Freddy Adu? :: Official Thread :: Part I

1. Inthenet....HS Dropout? Adu is on course to graduate from HS at 15!

2. Eltico...my understanding is that the Adu's won the lottery outright. Furthermore, I thought Fro Adu (his younger brother) did have all of the documentation. Again, SI sent people to Ghana to investigate. USSF investigated as well. Not only is there no evidence he's not the age he says he is, the documentation for Fro is even stronger. And as Monster points out, lots of folks have looked at this and have had an encentive to find it wrong (do you think Chelsea and ManU, looking for a loophole to get around the EU age limits didn't look at this issue?).

3. As for "defrauding" his youth team (the Potomac Cougars I believe), he was a 12 year old I believe playing on a U15 team. Every team he's been a part of in the USA, he could have been eligible for if he was 2 years older.

4. And yes, I do believe Hudson put him up to it. Remember, Hudson is quoted as saying that he and Adu talked by phone this weekend. And let's face it, Hudson is a personable guy. You can admire him b/c of his spirit, how he bleeds for DCU, how much he cares about this team, how outgoing and funny he is--and still conclude his decisions are bad and he's tactically weak. I take Adu's comments on this (Hudson as coach) as nothing more than smart politics plus him indicating that he liked his experience with DCU the past year.

 

One piece of the age debate missing from this thread ==

I remember reading somewhere, maybe Grant's SI piece (?), that Adu's dad is 6'4. I also remember reading the Fro, the younger brother, grew 4 inches in the last year alone.

Bottom line though is that it's now completely irrelevant. If he's got game he plays. Wouldn't matter if he's 6 or 40 (see Preki).

 

The reasons the doubters point to are that they are lying about Freddy's age so he can be seen as a more special soccer player. "He's so good he HAS to be older than 14. He must be lying about his age."

As was pointed out, FIFA is pretty serious about the age issue. The USSF is pretty serious about the age issue. I'm sure that given their seemingly endless supply of cash Nike could easily discover if the Adus are lying about Freddy's age before they inked a $1,000,000.00 deal.

 

I think, the MLS or DCU should do a "brain" test on you!

I am in awe at your ignorance. To say that the "way" someone talks and the "way" someone walks tells their age is ludicrous. Beyond ludicrous...I say, "INSANE".

You, sormun, are seriously out of touch with this little thing called reality.

Tim

 

Etch?

You are his agent...why don't you tell us.


Tim

 

Moderators: please move all of this "is Freddy 14?" BS to some other thread far, far away. It's been hashed over a million times elsewhere.

This thread is supposed to be about Goff's article. Speaking of the article, I think Freddy said the right thing.

 

So are some people arguing that Freddy is lying about his age in some sort of nefarious marketing plot? Are these people also arguing that, at 17, his skills wouldn't be all that remarkable?

Okay.

To quote Homer Simpson:

Good thing I'm got out of here before I went nuts! Goodbye sparkly elves!

 

New sig!

Thanks!

 

I'm sure you're right. See, Freddy is indebted to Hudson for fronting up the money to his mom to get his birth certificate faked in Ghana, and this was his way of saying 'Thank you'.

 

Yes we are.

I pesonally don't think that management is going to be too influenced by their new 14-year old rookie. However, I think that his parents could get the coach hired/fired if he were playing u-15.

 

I never said he HAS to be older than 14. I said it's a possibility. I don't think there's any way to prove that he's 14 at this point, (as well as no way to prove that he isn't) and so I reserve the right to be a "Doubting Thomas"

 

Please answer the questions I posed on the last page then.

Here they are again

"Are you saying that the birth certificate created in 1996, when he would've been, what, 10 or 11 instead of 7 or 8, was created because somehow everyone in Ghana knew the kid was going to become an international soccer star and get a $1,000,000.00 endorsement deal from Nike when he was a 17 year old pretending to be 14?

"Are you saying that his mother and the Ghanaian authorities conspired to lie about his actual birthdate in the first year of the existence of Major League Soccer because they knew that eventually the Adus would win the green card lottery, move to the USA and cash in with a 6 year deal with the league?

"I just want to make sure I undertand how the hell you think they managed to accomplish this."

 

Ellinger to DC

Maybe Freddy can put in a good word for Ellinger at Brandenton.


On the age issue-doesnt; matter how old he is. The real question is how he will handle the faster bigger men. Only time will tell. Hopefully he is not another youth star thats fades into the sunset.

 

In addition to this, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the birth certificate that was filed in 1996 was filed nearly A YEAR BEFORE Freddy's family even won the lottery. The lottery that he won was in 1997, so he couldn't have been changing his age in order to swtich documents with another family that already won the lottery. this is all inane. for us to believe that he plotted to fake these documents would mean that we would have to believe he can see the future. he never played organized soccer in ghana, so there was no way for his family to know that he would become this big after coming to america, which doesn't even follow soccer closely. his birth certificate still PREDATES the lottery. If he were older, although he wouldn't be looked at as quite the stud he is looked at now, he would still be good enough to go overseas, so he is actually LOSING money. His younger brother is already 6 ft tall, because his father is a pretty large man himself. adu is 5'8" and 145 or so, and we are going nuts. he's not a pound bigger or stronger than i was at that age (i could bench 240 when i was 14). he has no facial hair, a light voice, and everyone who personally knows him has said that he acts just like every other kid when he is off camera. I go back to Knave's point that to just disparage someone without a shred of proof just because he's better than the rest is pretty silly. I guess that's what makes the world go round for some people though.

 

1. Last summer, the issue of Freddy's age was hotly debated here. I was one who expressed tons of doubts. His size and him being two years ahead of his age in school were my main concerns.

Then he came to Cary with the U-17s and I saw him in person. I came on here and admitted I was wrong. He looks (almost) his age. Yeah, he was a bit older looking than 13; I thought he looked like he was 14. But that's sort of tautological; a typical 13 year old can't compete with 16s. If you put the Freddy I saw last fall in a class of 8th graders, he would have looked older than most of the boys, but not all.

QUESTOIN: How many of you doubters have seen him in person?

2. My wife is from Kenya. Granted, that's the other side of Africa. But she, personally, thinks the idea that Emelia lied for immigration reasons is nuts. She knows more about it than most/any of us.

 

well, i said my peace on that. i'm gonna leave it alone now. the issue with the Hudson comments brings us back to square one. I don't have a problem with Adu expressing fond feelings for someone he knows (Hudson). but is Hudson the guy? and does Freddy's comments make it more or less likely that he is retained?

 

Here here! The kid speaks with poise and intelligence. You can tell he's 14 but you can also tell he was raised with class. Kudos to Mama Adu

 

Alrighty then, this thread has really gotten my blood BOILING. I am pissed. Damn mad. Steaming mad at you ignorant fools, jacka$$es, and cowards on here who despite all the evidence to the contrary continue to parade your ignorance around like its show-and-tell day at the school for knumbskulls. Put aside the fact that this is an internet forum for a minute. Pretend that we are real people here. Imagine that this is real life where things that you say kind-of, sort-of matter (nihilists stay out of this). I think it is just plain sad that a you all have said such disparaging things about Freddy and his family.

As far as we know, Mrs. Adu is a fantastic woman. Everyone, everywhere that has met her says what a great lady she is. I don't intend to deny you the ability to be a "doubting Thomas" about Freddy's age. However, I do want to say that if your theory as to why Freddy would be older than his mother says involves her lying, then I will say that your are acting like a "Ignorant Thomas" and need to step back and examine yourselves.

Being someone who was accused as a kid of lying about my age to play a sport in the wrong age group, I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end. It is plain unfair. It is hurtful to families. I could not help the fact that I was freakishly tall for my age. No one can help their physical appearance. Hell, I could buy beer when I was 15. I say to all of you ignorant fools that believe that you can tell someone's age from the way they walk and talk that you are incredibly stupid, misinformed, and an embarrassment to yourself. Go crawl back in your holes.

Tim

 

Allrighty, I was going to stay out of his age debate but I've had about enough of the slamming from those who say how dare you question his age.

I don't know if he's 14. He could be-he could not be. I'm not sure.

But for those who want documentation for anybody who suggests he isn't his age, he says his brother is 12 and 5'10". That would put him way over the 95th percentile-off the charts. Someone let me know of one 12 year old they know who is 5'10". Here's a chart:

https://www.nutropin.com/patient/3_5_3_growth_charts.jsp

All that said, I really don't think a few years makes that much of a difference. And I don't think the Adus should be crucified by this. So enough already just stop slamming people for doubting his age.

 

In Freddy's defense-he is around the average height for his age.

So maybe his brother's older and he's 14. I don't know-I don't care. If he's good enough, he's good enough, a few years ain't that big of a deal.

 

when i was in the 7th grade, one of my best friends, who was 12, was 6'3". his father was 6"8". my cousin, who is 5'11", has a son, now 11, who is 5'10". don't wanna dwell on the freddy's age topic, but just giving you the examples that you asked for.

 

I'm with Wahl in the Freddy-age debate. Show me proof or shut up.

But, I realize there are others who aren't in this camp.

And, I understant that Freddy's rare and prodigious talent combined with his birth certificate not being filed till he was 7 and that he's from a country where birth certificate fraud, including among their soccer players, in common, will make for some doubt and suspicion.

That's part of the Freddy package just like some of those articles criticial of sigining a kid so young are part of the Freddy package. In the end, they are outweighed by all the numerous things that are positive about Freddy but those comments and questions will still linger.

Let it go. Debating it just feeds the fire.

 

Stop, in the name of all that which does not suck!

Where's a jack-booted thug when you need one?

I don't care what you think about the age issue, this thread is supposed to be about the grammar, man...no, wait, the music...no, wait, the Goff article - which made no mention whatsoever of the age issue.

There's nothing to see here, folks.

 

The Old Stuff

You Freddy defenders crack me up.

You've got a kid graduating 3 years ahead in school who stopped growing at age 12 with no hospital birth certificate who happens to be the youngest professional sports athlete in the last century. With not a peep from the mainstream media about the subject.

Haven't seen a media ************** this sloppy since CNBC was fellating Internet stocks.

And you're going to adopt a tone of outrage that this subject has been overdone?

Yeah, right. Count your lucky blessings and shut up.