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Clint Dempsey was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame on Saturday, and he got very emotional when thanking his family.
The former U.S. men’s national team great, who is tied for the all-time USMNT goal record with Landon Donovan, fought back tears when expressing his admiration towards his parents for everything they did for him. The story is well chronicled, with the Nacogdoches, Texas, native traveling hours to practices as he got his start before a career that took him to Furman University, MLS and the Premier League. He scored four of his 57 U.S. goals at World Cups, including two at Brazil 2014.
“My mom and my dad, Thank y’all for the sacrifices y’all made for me. Driving up to Dallas was hard, a lot of people that y’all were crazy, but I would say it’s the good crazy.” Dempsey said. “Y’all were doing overtime, and my dad, we’d wake up early to go to games on the weekends and get late on training during the weekdays, and [he was] waking up at four to go to work. We really weren’t in the position to be doing what we were doing, but we made it happen.”
Dempsey also explained how his parents’ hard work helped mold his mindset on the field.
“That impacted me and my game because nothing less than my best would be doing justice for them for the sacrifices that they made,” he said.
Besides his parents, Dempsey added a round of thanks to his grandparents, who he claims helped him learn “don’t be content in knowing what the project is, look ahead to the future and know what else is out there.”
Finally, Dempsey gave his brother a shout-out for showing him soccer games overseas, and he honored his sister, who died when he was 12.
“No matter how hard things got, nothing would be harder than losing her,” Dempsey said.
