← Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Dempsey: “Bury me with the National Team jersey” | Unfiltered Soccer
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- [00:02]
A
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen. Volkswagen has long been a supporter of soccer in America and has proudly been a partner of U.S. soccer for over five years.
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B
Welcome into another edition of Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.
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A
What's up, ld Timmy? We are recording this on a. Is today Wednesday? I can't even keep track anymore. Um, on a Wednesday. And we have an amazing show. I would say we have some great guests, but I think this is the guest people are going to be most excited about.
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B
I have a feel. I have a feeling ever. This is going to be.
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A
We will get to him in one minute. As a reminder, follow us on social media at Unfiltered Soccer. Wherever you are listening or watching right now, please hit that subscribe button. Leave a message. Rate us. Review us. You can also email jordan@feedbackiltered soccer.com and I'm sure you'll have a lot of questions after this week. Reminder. Upcoming live shows. Day after the first US game. June 13th. After the June 12th game against Paraguay, we will be in LA. There are tickets available, I believe now. Dallas, Texas. Monday, July 13th, day before the first semi. Hopefully we're cheering on our US team and then NYC ahead of the final. July 18th, the day before the final.
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B
Yep.
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A
All right. A guy we both played with probably the most, maybe outside of Robbie Keane, the most competitive guy I ever played with, one of the best players I ever played with. A man who brought a lot of American soccer fans joy for many, many, many, many years. None other than Deuce. Clint Dempsey.
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B
Clint Dempsey. Welcome.
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A
Welcome in, my friend.
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C
What's up, boys? How y' all doing?
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A
Great.
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B
We're great. I'm just going to say, let me pontificate. I am so. I am so lucky. And here's why. I am. I got to play with, hands down, no matter who you ask any generation, the two greatest U.S. soccer players of all time. I got to play with these two. I got to call them friends. And I get to be on a show that I get to talk to them. I honestly, I feel very lucky and fortunate. Deuce, you are a legend. Not in my eyes, but in every single player in person's eyes here in U.S. soccer. So we are delighted to have you, man. Thanks for being here, man.
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C
I appreciate you. Means a lot to me. Obviously, it was great being Yalls teammates, y legends and Mount Rushmore in my book for US Soccer. But also I wanted to thank y' all for jumping on my documentary and. And helping out. I mean, meant a lot to me. So thank y'. All.
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A
You're very welcome. And, and let's start there. Deuce the. Just the process. What was that like that pro. I wrote a book, you know, and like, that process is interesting and it's, there's emotional pieces to it and you hear things from people you didn't know, footage you didn't know. What was that like for you, going down memory lane?
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C
Yeah, it was nerve wracking. Right. Because when you do something like that, you have to, like, open yourself up to the world. And as y' all know, who I was in the locker room and who I was in the media was kind of a completely different person. I was joking around freestyling with y' all and in the media, I was trying not to say stuff that, like, get myself stupid. Yeah, exactly. But I don't know. I just had a really good relationship with cbs, with Pete Radovich. I trusted them. I knew they'd take care of me and, and my family and, and edit it in a good way. That not wouldn't just be a commercial. It would show like the qualities that you have, but also the faults and roller coaster ride of a career where you make mistakes and you bounce back, but also, you know, the highlights and, and, and, and good times. But it was nerve wracking. But look, I think it brought the family closer together in the end. Not only, oh, that's cool wife and kids, but my brothers and sisters, mom and dad. And it's just kind thing like to keep in the family because you can always go back to it like a photo album for everybody as we get older and just kind of look at it and kind of mark the place in time.
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B
Clint, let's talk about your family. Now, we know the highs. We've seen the highs. We've seen that jersey, we've seen your fist in the air jumping after scoring a goal in the World cup, but your family, and we got to know them over the years at World Cups and on the road, but they played such an important role in the early days, before there was a deuce, before there was a men's national team. You weren't highly recruited in college. Like, there was something in the dirt down there and your family played such an important role in that. Can you talk to us what that was like for them?
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C
Yeah, for sure. I mean, we're from. Grew up in a small town, East Texas, Nacogdoches, oldest town in Texas. And all we kind of knew was sports and playing as many sports as you could. The parents would get us into everything and, you know, kind of keep us out of trouble. Also make sure we get worn out. So we came home and weren't tearing up the house. And being the second youngest of five, I mean, it was. Everybody was really competitive and I think by being a younger sibling I had to like, do more to kind of keep up with everybody else. But as we continued, just the sacrifices everybody had to make for each other in terms of the time of, you know, you didn't always have both parents or even sometimes one parent at a game, a grandparent had to jump, jump in, an aunt, an uncle. So when they say it takes a village, I mean, that's really what it was kind of my situation. And then when it got to doing the club ball in Dallas, the three hour drives one way and back, and we didn't know what we were doing. But for us, college fund, we were like, all right, if we do this, maybe it's a way we pay for college. And we ended up lucky. And I think three of my siblings ended up, Four of my, three of my siblings ended up getting scholarships. So, yeah, man, we just were very competitive family. And if it wasn't for my mom and dad's, you know, sacrifices they made and the supporting us and believing in us, but also I think in a young age it put things in perspective of me that like, I couldn't give anything less than my best or it'd be a slap in their face for how it worked, you know.
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B
So much love, so much love to your mom and dad. We saw, we, we got to know them and they were so proud of you. Every, every time we saw them in the hotel after the game, they were just beaming. They were so proud you did them well, dude.
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A
So I wanna, I wanna, I don't think you, I don't know how much you know this about me either, but I didn't grow up in small town in Texas, but I grew up in a small town in, in Southern California. And my dad wasn't around and my mom, we were really poor growing up. And your story is actually very similar to my story. Everything was around playing and sports, and my mom sacrificed everything. Everything. All she wanted was for me to go to college. And what I'm curious about from you is if you had had it easier growing up, do you think you would have made it where you made it? Because you, more than anybody I ever played with, everyone used the word like you had an edge and like you wanted to just. You wanted to win at almost any cost. And I wonder if you had grown up with an easier lifestyle, if that. That would have still happened that way. Because I think about that, yeah, I
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C
think everything in your life shapes you to who you are and how you become right and the environment that you're put in and, you know, the hardships that you go through. So whether it was like, you know, being difficult just to even try to, you know, on the family, on finances, to just play club soccer, or losing a sister at a young age, and then how your family deals with that and in terms of how you see life and do. Are you someone that, like, when would have, like, a bad thing happen to him? Do you just stay down or do you get back up and dust yourself off and. And. And be stronger for it? So I was just always someone that was just going to be stronger for it. I was always someone who was gonna try to take care of my family and give them a better life. Whether. Whether it was my, you know, immediate family, wife and kids, or, you know, my brothers and sisters and mom and dad. I just wanted to. To. To make our situation better. And that was always my focus. I mean, I think it would have been better if I could have gotten better coaching and if I could have been around better and more competitive environments, especially, you know, at. At a younger age. But you deal with what you got, and you only can go as far as you can go, depending on what your scenarios are, what your platforms that you're able to get to and. And have the chance to even to be seen by anybody. So I think everybody's. It's one of those things there's no way of knowing. But I think for sure, going through tough times put things in perspective to me. But also seeing my parents go through tough times, aunts and uncles, grand grandparents. I just think by being in a small town, working class, that kind of was instilled in me to just always work hard. And then that competitiveness came from being in a big family and wanting to have attention, because if you didn't fight for your attention, you weren't gonna get it. That's just how it goes.
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B
That's true, Clint. So people asked me. So Landon and I, we finished playing. We sort of, sort of were out there very quickly in the public eye post playing. And people would always ask me, like, where's Clint? And I'm like, I ain't spoke to him in a little bit, but I'm guessing he's hunting and fishing. He's got a beautiful wife and family. Like, he's tucked away in North Carolina. Texas somewhere. He's good. And so talk to me a little bit because I'm curious, because I was sort of figuring that out as well. You've come into the television world and you've done so well. You sound so great. I love listening to you speak. But there was that time, quite a long period of time, where you and we sort of knew as teammates, we're like, when Clint's done, he's going to come down. Yeah.
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A
He's going to disappear. Yeah.
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B
And by the way, if you ever get a chance to buy Clint a drink and ask him about his wild boar hunting stories, they're outrageous. I still tell them, but. So what did you do? What was, what did you do in that time out? And what was the catalyst for you to go. Okay, because you made a conscious decision clearly, to say, like, I'm back.
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C
Yeah.
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B
So what was that like?
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C
Well, first is like, man, I got burned out. You know, us, I qualifying for the World cup in 2018. That, that, that. And then, you know, not being with the national team anymore. For me, it was really. There was nothing left to play for. Don't. No disrespect to playing professionally and playing in the mls, but for me, once the World cup dream was done, I was, I was kind of done. And then also your body, man, your body breaks down. You can't do what you want did. I came back from two heart procedures. I still never felt 100% the same. Like, I couldn't dig as deep as I needed to impact the games or work as hard as I needed to be successful. So it was like, it was just good to get two years away completely. Like you said, it was hunting, it was fishing and it was golfing. That. That's all I was doing.
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B
And then good life.
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C
Yeah. I mean, and then chasing kids around, obviously. I have six kids and I'm an Uber driver for them. But, you know, when, when I'm not running kids, I'm definitely, you know, someone who likes to their hobbies. Right. But yeah, I think it just, I never thought I was going to do media unless you got in the right situation. And the kind of way it was described to me, it was like, what if you could be around something that was like what Shaq and Charles Barkley did for basketball. Right. So I was like, dude, that'd be sick. Right? And then I didn't know how I was going to do on tv. But for me, I got that little bit of, I don't know, being back in the national team, like seeing y' all and being on this platform and talking with y', all, it feels like we're back in camp, right? Yeah. Even though, you know, we weren't always maybe going out and doing this and that. But you know what it is like to be in camp, joking around, all the little songs we sing and talk trash to everybody, and you just kind of miss that because you had your routine, you would do something every single day, and once everything is gone, it's like, kind of lost. You don't know what to really kind of do it yourself. So for me, it was important to have hobbies, but it's also been important to kind of get back into the game. And in this capacity, I feel like I can do it, have fun, but it's not like I'm like, week in and week out, the grind of being a coach or being a player. So it's like I can, I can play, have a good time, and then I can peace out and go back to fishing, golfing, or hunting, you know, so, yeah, according to. Find that balance for me.
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B
We're glad you're back.
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A
Yeah, I feel the same way. And, and I told you this in, in Qatar, it was, it was actually nice because we were competitive as, like, on the field together. We were also competitive with each other and, like, pushing each other. But it was nice to see you away from all that, me away from all that, and then just get to, like, talk about the game and listen to each other. And it was really fun in Qatar. And I'm looking forward to. This summer is going to be really fun. We won't be together, but it's going to be fun to hear you following the US Team. And so let's dive into that as you get into sort of studying and getting ready for the team this summer. What is what has to go right? You know, I, like, I have my opinions on this, what has to go right for this team to do something really special. And if the team really struggled, what would have gone wrong, you know?
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C
Yeah, that's a great point. I, I, I think the important thing is to have your best players fit and available. I hope that everybody has a little bit of niggle here and there that they could, they're, they're fully fit and we're getting to see at least the lineup they choose, that everybody's fit and, and see what that best 11 is going to be, because I don't know if we really got a chance to, to truly see that. But I mean, to go wrong, to me, the most, the worst thing that could happen is us not get out of the group. I'd be an absolute nightmare, and I don't see how it could be possible with now the new format. I actually hate the format of the World Cup. I hate the fact that there's more teams. I think it's. It's brought the quality down. There's no true group of death. The fact that eight of the third place teams can get out of the group, it almost feels like the World cup doesn't start to the round of 32. I mean, you can essentially just get one win and then just have a decent goal differential and then. And then you're out of the group. So for me, that takes some of the excitement out of the group stage. Whereas, like, when we were playing in the World cup group stages that we were in, it was like, you got to get something from that first game, and if you don't get anything from the first game, it's like, oh, damn. Like, we had a World cup qualifying game from home. We lost. We're at home. It's like, must win. If we don't, yes, in the second game, you're done. You're out of the tournament. So, yeah, I just think that. Stay healthy, get. You know, we have. We have the quality in this side. You know, if Christian is confident, Boligan is confident, Weston McKinney, Tyler Adams, Chris Richards, I mean, that spine of the team, if they're. If they're at it, I feel like there's. There's no way that we don't get out of the group. But also, you need everybody to. To be at their best, to truly do something special, like what, you know, y' all did in 2002, what South Korea did in 2002, in terms of, like, being the host country and getting final. I mean, Lane and that. For me, that. That's what I remember in high school, watching that World cup and saying, man, hopefully I can make this team and go on a deep run. Unfortunately, I was ever. The furthest I ever got was to the round of 16, but it was. It was still inspiring, and hopefully we can see something like what we saw in 2002 from. From our US team.
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B
Yeah, yeah. Come at. Come at, Clint. I said the same thing. Y' all come at me. I don't like the new World Cup. I don't like the new World Cup. So. So we all remember two that you talked about. 2002, then 2006. We had a disastrous World cup, but for you, right, that's your first World Cup. You score the goal. So now you know you're going to have a slightly different feeling about 2006. Like we all went, we all went home together. But like, that was your coming out party. Like what, what do you remember about that? The goal, the tournament itself. But specifically, specifically that, like, that's what every kid dreams about is scoring a first World cup goal.
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C
For sure. I mean, when I think about that time I was on the outside looking in going into that January camp and before that I did that. Nike don't tread rap track. I don't know why they want me to do it because, like, I'm nowhere near the team when all the European players come in. And then it was between me and Santino Quaranta to see who's going to kind of be that guy. And he was a D.C. united guy. So I feel like, man, I had to do extra to kind of get into that team. So ended up getting into the team. I had a little bit of like back issues. I had to get an epidural, but like I was still ready and fit to go. And, and I remember thinking when that first game, hopefully I get in and we're losing three nothing, nothing against Czech Republic and thinking, damn, it's going to be another like World cup that I don't, I don't really get to play because U20 World Cup. I was pretty much a bench player ready. Dude was coming through. Bobby Convey, Eddie Johnson, Justin Mapp. I mean that we had a pretty nice team. Got to the, I think, I think the quarterfinals. I can't remember lost to Argentina or whatever, but I'm thinking, damn, it's another World Cup. I ain't going to do nothing. But then I was grinding in camp and pretty much I felt like I made Bruce play me. Got to, got to start against Italy and that's the team that ended up winning the World cup and we tied. I mean, that was a great game. You know, a lot of people don't even want to talk about a failure of the World Cup. We still kept up with the champs and they, you know what I'm saying? It wasn't like they weren't trying their best to, to go out there and get a result. And then we go to the Ghana game. It's a must win situation. They score first and then I get a chance to accomplish my dream, play for my country and score for my country in a World Cup. On the, on the world stage, shout out Beasley, who's also be on Mount Rushmore. Yeah, I'm gonna be partial. I'M gonna pick people who I played with, you know, and then he whipped in a great ball. I was able to score. And to your point, man, that changed my life, because by doing that, we ended up losing the game, and we lost two one. And it was a good gone Asad. But if we'd have won, we. We'd have went through. But, like, I was able to make player of the year. I was able to, like, be in the shop window of European teams that were. That were there to start getting interested in me, and that's what really got my move to go to England, which I think when you. When I think about my legacy, I think it's what I did in Europe, and it's what I did for the national team. I don't really look too much. No disrespect to mls, but I don't really look too much to my mls.
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A
Tom, I want to share a story. Clint, I don't know if you remember this, but I didn't even realize you got an epidural, so. I mean, Timmy, I played with a lot of, like, tough bastards. I sat in a training room one time during a camp, and you remember Howie, the foot doctor?
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C
Yeah, he always did.
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A
I watched Howie pull off Clint's toenail because you got stepped on or something, so it was, like, bleeding underneath or something.
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B
Oh, yeah.
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A
I watched him. I swear to God, for 20 minutes, I watched him. Are you gonna throw up? I watched him pull off his toenail, and Clint was just sitting there going. And I was, like, almost crying because I was like, I was in pain just watching him, and I was like,
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B
this motherfucker is the things we do, huh?
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A
I could not believe I'd never seen anything like that.
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C
Well, you know how it is. I mean, I just think that's something that kind of comes with it, especially when you're playing in the cooler months. People step on your toes.
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A
Yeah.
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C
A little bit of blood underneath your toes, and then if you don't, like, do the needle at the right time to, like, relieve that pressure.
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A
Yeah, but I didn't have my toenail pulled off. Dude,
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C
this guy's crazy. It's not as bad as I don't think. You know, I've seen all the stuff that everybody had to deal with. His fingers, you know, and you've done deal with plenty of stuff as well. Man, you got, like I always say, man, you got charges to the game. It's just. What?
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B
Charge of the game? Clint, what did you do? You know, take. Take our listeners inside of, you know, we see the pageantry and all the craziness that goes on around the World Cup. But, like, take us in. Like, what are you, what are you doing during, during the World Cup? You hanging out in a hotel? I mean, I always tell people in South Africa, you were the one off in the distance. I was like, oh, Clint's fishing. We're all just hanging out, literally fishing. What would you do during, like your downtime at a World Cup? Because there's not. People think it's exciting.
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C
No, it's not. It's not, not really exciting. I mean, when you're training and you're, you're, you're in the heat of the games and everything, you're, you're normally in your room and you're just conserving as much energy as possible. Get in treatment, watching film and making sure you're ready. But then you get those few days where like, you've done well, you get a day off and that's where you get to go golf or you get to go fishing, or you get to be outside or, you know what I mean, get to do something out the ordinary, go to a nice dinner. Like, you're not just in the compound, sitting in your room, like trying to recover for the next training session. So it's like a mix of everything, right? You're like watching all the games of other teams that are playing and when the team is doing well in the sense of knowing that you're going to get out of the group, right? Like what we experienced in 2010, after the Algeria game, we had like a little bit of time to kind of like unwind and kind of hang out and have that camaraderie and stuff like that. But until those type of moments happen, to your point, Tim, you ain't doing a damn thing except sitting in the room, resting up, getting treatment and training and trying your best to make the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity. Because you don't know it's going to be your last time being a World
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B
cup and you're preparing for the storm. So take us inside your head and your heart. So does fear start creeping in? At what point are you thinking, I could fail? Do you listen to the voices? Are you saying, go away? How do you deal with it? Because, you know, you're a big player, you're the star, you have to help carry this team. And with that comes vulnerability. How do you deal with, deal with the fear and the doubt?
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C
Well, I think one of the worst things that happened in my life has also been one of the best things in terms of how it's shaped me. Like, talked about losing my sister and the hardship of that. So, like, no matter what I do in soccer, like, in terms of if I fail, like, there ain't nothing gonna be worse than I've already experienced. So I already know what the worst is that's out there waiting for me. Right? Obviously, like 2018, that's not qualifying for the World Cup. That really hurts me and it hurt my legacy of not being able to play in four World Cups and to be a part of a failed cycle, as you would say. But it's just one of those things, control what you can control. It's like you're preparing for the worst and you're hoping for the best. But that's always been how I've done things in life. And, you know, that stuff can go sideways and it was end up not being how you want it to go, but at the same time, you know, it can go great. So it's like I just focus on controlling what I can control. That's how hard I can work. Make sure I give everything I have in there and don't come back in here and say, man, I wish I should have taken more people on. I should have shot that. I should have, you know, got an assist here. You know, I should have played. You know what I mean? You just go out there and see what you see and play as hard as you can and hopefully a little bit of Lady Luck will be on your side. And normally when you're working hard, Lady Luck will help you out. But it's what's beautiful about it, man, because I remember, like, you know, the highs of us beating out Algeria. I remember the lows of. I didn't cry often, but I remember losing the Confederations cup and apologizing to you because the person I was marking scored. You know what I'm saying? That always I knew that we were hardly ever going to be in a chance to be in a major final and to win a trophy for our country, and we were in a great position there and we didn't get it done. So that's what I love about the game, man. I've had the highest. The highest loads of lows, but shit, we. We keep going. And that's right what we. Foreign.
- [23:50]
A
The unfiltered soccer podcast is brought to you by Volkswagen. It's really easy to become a passenger in life, to sit back and watch life go by day after day.
- [23:59]
B
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- [24:10]
A
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- [24:18]
B
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- [24:24]
A
Deuce let's talk about your. Well, your national team coaches. But I also want to. I want people to understand. I know people know a little bit about this from you behind the scenes, but used to blow my mind because, like, you and E.J. eddie Johnson were really tight. And when I talk about. And I miss this in, like, in this generation of players, you would also go after him in training or in. I mean, and, like, you would hold each other accountable. And you were nasty sometimes with him and. And to the point where I'd be like, whoa. But, like, you wanted him to do his job and hold him accountable. Right. And you just talk about crying because you didn't do your job in a moment. Right. So we interviewed Bob on here, and we actually have a clip of it. I want you to react to this story. You might have seen it already, but I want you to watch this. We're going to play it, and then I want you to react to this story because this tells people a lot about you. You guys can play it.
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D
Now I go to speak to Clint.
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B
Oh, boy.
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D
I don't think in the first two games, Clint's played really well. So I say, we need you to play better. And he goes crazy, Right? It's like you pulled a knife on.
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A
What a shock.
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C
Yeah.
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D
Now we are going back and forth, and at some point in the second half, when we are running our balls off in the middle of the field, Clint tries a Rabona pass and it doesn't work, and we run like hell to put out the fire. So now I say to him, like, and what was that pass all about? And Clint says to me, with everything that's going on, you really think that pass was such a big deal? And I said to him, no, you're right, it wasn't, but we still need you to play better. And we were done. And I went back to the staff, and they said, how'd it go? And I go, for 45 minutes, we went after each other. And I have no idea what was said, but I'm sure that Clint's ready for the next.
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A
Yeah, all right, go ahead. Response.
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C
I remember that we had a conversation after the Brazil game before we played, played Egypt, and we knew we needed a miracle. I think we needed to beat them by a certain amount, and we needed Italy to lose to Brazil by a certain amount.
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A
Right?
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C
My thing is, bro, just to give y' all context, we conceded, I think, five goals in the first two games. It was like talking to me about attack and play dog, you know what I'm saying? Like, and we're against Brazil, we're losing three nothing. And it's like, well, damn, I'm gonna try to do my thing against him because I grew up watching South American, south soccer, so I'm gonna try stuff, you know what I'm saying? But at the same time, obviously, I hadn't scored yet in the tournament. I didn't have an assist. And yes, if I'm an attacking player, I do need to play better. But, like, he was talking to me about, like, hey, I don't know if I'm gonna play you for the Egypt game and this and that. I was like, bro, you do whatever you want to do, but you can't tell me there's 11 these mother truckers any better than me. You know what I mean? But look, Wild always kept it real. He treated every player the same. He's always expected a lot of you. So I appreciate the fact that, you know, he said that to me. And you know what? I feel like I bounced back. I scored the. The. The header, the. For us to win three nothing against Egypt, and that was the goal that got us through to go and play against Spain.
- [27:50]
B
And what'd you do against Spain?
- [27:52]
C
You know, I mean, wait, what did we do against Spain? Laying across the ball. Damn. I got, you know, got me a goal, got me assist. Tim, awesome game. Everybody played well. I mean, we were a team that fought for each other. We knew that we were going to have to dig deep and counterattack. It'd be difficult to break down. And when we got our chances to go forward, do. Do our damn thing. But, yeah, I mean, look, we had tough conversations with each other. We had tough conversations with coaches. We had media killing us. I remember John Harks was killing me the whole time during that tournament. You know what I'm saying? It's what comes with the job. It's what comes with the territory. So what am I going to do? I ain't going to sit here and talk about it like one of my players. I got to. I got to show action. So I made sure that Egypt game come with it. And you know what I'm saying, we
- [28:37]
B
get to a final, I think it's Such an incredible lesson for, I would say, kids, but even top players, you know, professional players, like, sometimes a manager has to go after his best players sometimes. And in response, what people don't realize is the manager wants that player to stand up for themselves. They don't want to crumble. So really, Bob needed you to stand. Number one, stand up for yourself and number two, produce. And that's what happened. Like, that's a good player manager relationship. It's not always like, hugs and kisses and like pats on the back. So I think it's. I think that was a really funny clip, having Bob on. Let's talk about your temper, because here's the thing, right? This is what people don't. You are so mild manner. This is what people don't get. It's like Jekyll and Hyde. So, like, as a friend, as a family man, as someone at a. At the meal table, we just hanging out, there's no. There's no gripes. But then on the field, like, was there ever. Was there ever moments where you're like, oh, I think I went a little too far there?
- [29:37]
C
Yeah. I mean, all the time. I mean, that's just how I live my life. I feel like I was on that line of like, oh, he's all right to. Damn, he's crazy. You know, that's the line that always walk. But as you all know, man, the pressure that we're under as players and to provide for your family and when you're going through tough times, you're obviously going to be more aggressive, more when your back's against the wall and you're having these tough conversations, you're going to be fighting to show that, hey, I'm going to be here and I'm going to make a difference. Right? I mean, obviously, when things are going great, there's more smiles, there's less fighting. But, you know, my whole life, it just seemed like I was always in the struggle and that's the only way I knew how to deal with it, to cope with it, is to attack it. The issue that, that I'm. That I'm dealing with being in bad form or the team's in relegation or we need to qualify or what have you. And that's just how I coped with it, man. I was just like, I was all in. And I know that it could always change and I could be gone the next day because I was not really, you know, some of the things came easy for so that. That I think that's just. Just what added to me To. To how I was, man. I always kind of had that chip on my shoulder like life was. It wasn't always fair, but damn it, I'm a. I'm gonna make sure to get mine. So that's just. That's how I did.
- [30:57]
B
Yeah. Landon, can I. Can I share a story? So. So for you guys, I think will agree, but for people at home, for me, the. The. The most exciting and scariest moment for me was always walking down the tunnel, right? Cause what people understand is you walk down as dark. Leave the locker room, you walk down a dark tunnel, and then they stop you right at the end, right at the entrance. And it's like, oh, you're staring at this abyss and you're like, that's gonna be scary. Then you look to your left and you're like, oh, those are world class players. So you're scared and you're fighting it. And I just always remember, and there's two guys on the line. I'm walking past the other 10 guys and it's like I walk past Clint and I smack him on the chest and I go, okay, we're gonna be okay today. Cause Clint's here, same with Landon. And I'm like, these are my guys. And we walk out. And it's so funny because when we talk about your temper, I always remember with Clint, you were a fighter and a winner, but you needed to get slapped in the face first. And when that happened, I always remember when you would go off, I was almost like happy that the defender came in late on you. I went, that's great. That helps us. Because now you've just turned Clint into Superman. There was always a switch. And when that switch went off and people were like, oh, there's a temper, I just thought, well, that's. That's Deuce now, now, now, now he's in go mode. And so I always, I always appreciate it. Even in training. I mean, trainings were the same way you talked about with Eddie Johnson. And I just remember, like, how fiery. Like, that's the other thing about you is you didn't take days off, right? So when. When you were there and the ball was at your feet, training, World cup game friendly, you. It meant something. And I think that that's lost on a lot of people. So from, from, from obviously one teammate to another, I always appreciated that.
- [32:43]
C
No, no, I appreciate that, man. You know how it is when you go into battle. I mean, that's what you miss about the game when you know, you're stepping over the line, hear your national anthem and then it's time to go to work. But, yeah, I mean, let's just. Like I said, man, that's just always how I felt like I needed to be. To be. Be successful. And I just didn't want to. I had to. I just wanted to make them, like, a difficult decision for those coaches. No matter how much they didn't want to play me, I just felt like they had to play.
- [33:11]
B
Yeah, of course.
- [33:12]
C
Because, I mean, what I brought every day to training, that was my mindset. Because it's like, if I'm not going to train well, I don't deserve to be in the team on the weekend.
- [33:20]
B
Sure.
- [33:21]
C
That's right.
- [33:22]
B
That's right.
- [33:22]
A
That's changed a lot over time, huh? Like, now you coaches kind of know who they're playing. Days. Days. But it used to be, like, what you did in training. Absolutely. Met whether you played or not. And I kind of missed that. Because it kept you sharp, you know?
- [33:36]
C
No, for sure. I mean, it creates a certain type of culture. I mean, saying all that, like, when I got towards the later stages of my career, it was tough to fight, like, how I used to fight in training, because my body wouldn't allow me.
- [33:49]
A
Yeah.
- [33:50]
C
And so that was. That's when I kind of knew it was time to kind of start hanging it up. Like, when you start getting into, like, 34, 35, you know, 33, 34, 35. It's like it depends on the injuries that you dealt with, but if it's taking you too many days to get back to where you can go 100% in training.
- [34:07]
A
Yeah.
- [34:07]
C
Then it's like, it ain't fair to the team either. Right. So it's kind of like unless you have a coach that's cool, that understands, like, hey, it is worth it to me for this guy to be rested. But I just felt like as soon as coaches were under a hot seat, it wasn't really like that. I felt like they, like, wanted you out there, and it was like, oh, they ain't out there. They don't care. They're. They're not. They're. They're not, you know, they're faking it or whatever. But, you know, for me, it's just. It's a grind when you start getting older, too.
- [34:36]
B
Yeah.
- [34:37]
A
Yeah. All right. We're going to. We appreciate your time, man, and we'll get you out of here on some fun ones. But I do have one question before we get to that. I need you. I'm gonna ask you a question. I want you to be. You're always honest, but as honest as you've ever been, how do you feel? And I actually want to answer it myself. How do you feel that we're tied on all time goals? Like, genuinely, how does it feel?
- [35:02]
C
I mean, honestly, the answer that I gave you on kicking it, I'm gonna give it to you again, is like, look, I wanted to beat the record, obviously I'm a very competitive person, but like, to come back from those two heart procedures and to be able to be playing again, like, I didn't think I was going to be able to come back. I didn't know if my heart was going to act right and I wasn't going to get these palpitations. And even when I came back, like I said, I didn't feel 100%. I still felt like I could be affected, but I don't know if it was mental, physical or what have you. But yeah, I mean, I feel a certain way about Bruce. I'm not going to hide that. Especially after I had a conversation with him being subbed off in the Trinidad game. But like, he was the type of person you couldn't say nothing to. He'd get all. He'd get all hurt and get in his feelings and so we'd have. We'd have an issue. So ever since that point is like, all right, I was going to be a sub, or maybe in his mind, he thought I was only going to be a sub even before I came in, and only because people got hurt. It kind of allowed me to get that starting spot and that's when I got that. The hat trick versus Honduras and the gold versus Panama. But it's one of those things. Yeah, I'd have loved to beat the record, but damn, I felt like I had so much shit going against me that looked like I'm happy with what I left out there, man. Because, I mean, I started in the game late, bro. Like I said, I was watching you.
- [36:17]
A
Well, you also play. You played less games.
- [36:20]
C
Yeah, but. You know what I'm saying. But you had way more assists, man. I should have been taking the corners. I should have been taking free kicks.
- [36:27]
A
All right, thanks for being honest. All right. Just some fun ones. Favorite goal you scored.
- [36:37]
C
The World cup versus Ghana. Visa cross. I mean, yeah, that's what I dreamed about as a kid. Playing nationally, wasn't playing professional. So.
- [36:46]
B
Best player you ever played with.
- [36:48]
A
That's a good one. Actually.
- [36:49]
C
I think I would say Gareth Bell, man.
- [36:51]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [36:53]
C
When he got that move to Real Madrid first hundred million dollar Player And. And just that. See that season that he had, but, like, the most fun player I got to play with, I would say, would be an Obafem and Martins.
- [37:05]
A
Yeah, man.
- [37:06]
C
That's why we're playing pickup, bro.
- [37:09]
A
Hey, that's how I felt. That's how I felt with Robbie Keane.
- [37:12]
C
Yeah.
- [37:13]
A
It was literally like, you would like 6v6. It was so fun. All right, so when people go into a hall of Fame, like, for a sport, usually you go in with a certain club. Like, what club would you want to go into a hall of fame? Would it be Fulham? Would it be.
- [37:30]
C
Yeah, it'd be full of. I mean, that was the place that I was at the longest. A tie between, like, probably Fulham and Seattle in terms of where I was at the longest. I mean, obviously you feel love towards every club, but I would say Fulham, but if you're going to bury me, bury me with the national team. Jersey.
- [37:49]
B
Beautiful. All right. We always do this. You get. You get to pick a five a side team. Obviously, you're on it. You get to pick a five aside team of any former teammates from any
- [37:59]
A
team, club or country.
- [38:00]
B
Club or country.
- [38:02]
A
Who you got? Josie, put your boy Freddie a do on that. But five aside, Freddie was nice.
- [38:09]
B
Dempsey.
- [38:10]
C
Any. Any country that you ever played for.
- [38:12]
A
No, your. Any club you played for or your national team. Any player you played with.
- [38:18]
C
I'll do national team because that's going to be easy as hell. I say, Tim Howard.
- [38:22]
B
Let's go.
- [38:22]
C
Landon. Me Bees.
- [38:25]
B
Yeah.
- [38:26]
C
And who else are we going to throw in there? We got someone that can defend. Oh, shoot. Let me think. I put. I either put Gooch in there or Tyrannosaurus Rex. Arms. Carlos. Boca, neighbor.
- [38:41]
B
It's a good one. Gucci. Boca. That's good.
- [38:44]
C
Amazing.
- [38:46]
A
All right, Deuce. Great to see you, man. I can't wait to. We'll be interacting all summer on FOX with the World Cup. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Con on the documentary. Fun to watch. And if you haven't watched it, guys, watch it. It's really, really good about your story. Thank you for spending time with us, man. Great to see you. Good luck with the hunting, fishing, golf, family.
- [39:07]
C
Yes, sir.
- [39:07]
A
Media.
- [39:08]
C
What's your handicap? What's your handicap, Landon?
- [39:10]
A
Well, it's doubled in the last, like, three weeks. I've been absolute. It's a six. It's a six. All right.
- [39:15]
C
I'm a 4.1. Come get you some. Come get you some. Thank y' all for having me on, man. It's always good to see y' all going into battles with y'. All. Some of the best memories I had. And like I said before, thank you again for being on the documentary and landing. Good luck with your book.
- [39:30]
A
I appreciate it, man.
- [39:31]
B
And thanks for coming on, and love to the family. Really appreciate you asking me to be a part of your documentary. It was. It was a joy and a pleasure, man. You're the best.
- [39:39]
C
Yes, sir. Much love, boys.
- [39:41]
A
All right, guys, reminder later this week. I did a bonus pod this week. Timmy was hanging out in New York. I was working, walking through all the different paths that the national team could get if they finished first, second, third. It was actually really fun to do. So check that out later in the week. All you have to do is tune in, and you'll find out what those different paths could look like. Reminder is always to subscribe. Timmy, that was fun, man. Great to spend time with Deuce. And it's just fun to see him, you know, like, when we interview Garber and just, like, more relaxed when you're further away, away from the game. We can all just talk more freely and have more fun with it. And it was. It was really amazing. So thanks to Deuce.
- [40:22]
B
Yeah. Yeah. And Clint is. Clint's the best. And we. We. We know both sides of who he is, but the public doesn't often get to see that, and I'm really glad that we could get that and bring it out.
- [40:34]
A
Yep. Thanks, as always, to our presenting sponsor, vw. Have a great week, guys. We will be back next week with another edition of unfiltered software.