Ha. Well yeah I think if someone dies then their career is definitely affected. Am I just not remembering Americans who died while still playing?
It's way back in the history banks now, but there was a time that Adin Brown was being started ahead of Tim Howard on US youth teams. However, Adin is/was a Christian Scientist. He didn't treat his injuries thru modern medicine at the start of career. In particular, he had a severe knee injury that he suffered without throughout an early portion of his career. http://www.beliefnet.com/Wellness/2000/09/Goalie-Adin-Brown-Dropped-From-Olympic-Team.aspx# I'm convinced that if Adin had treated his injuries in the proper way throughout his early career via modern techniques, he could have been a rival for Tim Howard. He had concussions late in his career that he chose to treat via prayer and such methods. But he has his faith, so who am I to judge. There was a time I believed Adin Brown was the most talented USMNT-eligible player to never get capped by the USMNT. Pre-injuries he was pretty damn good.
I think you mean single player whose net potential contribution was cut short via injury? Our lord, Clint Mathis, without a doubt....
Should have read the rest of thread before making the beer and doritos joke someone else already made. Also great background on Adin Brown. Had no idea.
Lol, no that is what the paegan infidels want you to believe. Bruce arena even said so, just can't find it right now....
Great catch on Adin Brown. IIRC Adin was Howard's rival in the same vein as the Friedel/Keller rivalry with the exception that it never got off the ground. Adin missed the 2000 Olympics due to an injury. He then went to Tampa Bay and that club promptly folded soon after that season. He could have had a stellar career but each year was one injury or another.
Tab ramos. We havent produced some one with his specific skill set yet. Started breaking down in his mid to late 20s.
He was in pretty good health up until he had his skull cracked by Leonardo at age 27 at the Wolrd cup in 1994. After that he had some success in Mexico and then MLS started; His MLS career was marred by injury, although by that time he was 30 before the end of the first season.
At one time, a friend and I decided that Ramos and Danny Manning, the basketball player, were the only pro athletes who continued playing after two complete tears of the same ACL. Ramos came back pretty well after the first one, but the second one put him on the slippery slope. Ironic that Ramos got his opening into the starting lineup of the national team after Ricky Davis was felled by a knee injury.
Yep. And people forget Johnny Walker too, who was dominating South America for a long time before injury. In a parallel universe, Adin Brown and Johnny Walker are our starting GK's and Tim Howard and Brad Guzan would be fighting for the #3 kit.
I mentioned his name in this post, I think he was a great goalkeeper, does anyone know if he played Copa Libertadores de America?
"On a recommendation, Walker went to Chile and signed with Universidad Católica. They loaned him out to Huachipato in 1998, then brought him back, and he became the starting goalkeeper for the club, playing in the Copa Libertadores, and winning the Apertura 2002 Championship."
For injuries not involving an automobile, John O'Brien. Though Chris Armas comes close. Didn't he miss the 2000 Olympics because of a knee injury as well?
I 2nd this. It pretty much ruined his chances in Germany which in turn cut down his chances for the NT. Probably was real close to making the 2010 roster
Yes, Armas was hampered by knee injuries before two major tournaments in his career. It was sad, because he really teamed up well with Reyna, being a destroyer behind Reyna's tempo. Luckily, Pablo Mastroeni arrived on scene, otherwise we might have had ABMOD at the 2002 WC.
The guys that come to mind are Charlie Davies, John O'Brien, Claudio Reyna, Onyewu, Stu Holden. Yeah Reyna is an all-time great but he could have put even more space between himself and the crowd by not constantly getting dinged up. Davies was on such a great trajectory and his timing was perfect because we badly needed a 2nd striker with Altidore being so young, very sad.
Just to make sure that things are clear, he did treat his injuries through modern medicine but was somewhat reluctant to do so. For instance, when he banged up his knee in April 2000, he tried to continue playing through it (while taking pain meds), but that's something many players do. And when it continued to bother him, he had arthroscopic surgery in June 2000. The linked article says that delaying the knee surgery caused subsequent injuries. Quite possibly, however, the problem was rushing back post-surgery. In any case, he was certainly a good talent in spite of the injuries, although by 2001, Howard was exploding while Brown (a year older) was still sort of meh. As for "You got burned" Johnny Walker, having a bit of success in Chile is nice, but he doesn't belong anywhere near this discussion.
I think he does to some degree. For a period of time during the 2006 WC cycle, he was arguably the third string keeper behind Keller and Howard. He earned caps for games where Euro-based players weren't called in (similar to Rimando's current situation), including a 1-0 win against Mexico in Texas. He would have been great competition for Hahnemann, who started turning heads in England around the same time Walker went down with injury and exited the USMNT scene.
Does Brown's would be so good? he left MLS to play in Scandinavia, Walker was well in Chile and played in MLS and was injured when he was being called up to play in the U.S. Team.