“I Did It and You Can Too”
Editor’s Note: Brad Davis from Houston, Texas, one of the newest Mossy Oak pros, is living the dream of every youngster who plays soccer, and every soccer parent who takes sons or daughters to soccer practice every day and games on Saturday. Davis plays for the Houston Dynamo (www.houstondynamo.com) a major league soccer team, and is a member of the United States Men’s National Team. Davis, who played in the World Cup representing the United States this year, is an avid bowhunter and a gun hunter.
I'm originally from St. Louis, Missouri, and started playing soccer when I was 5-years old. My dad, Harry, loved the sport. My brother, Jeff, who’s 10-years older than me, and my sister, Carrie, who’s 5-years older than me, got into soccer. Then they both got me into soccer. As a younger brother, I always wanted to be like my big brother, Jeff, who played professional soccer for 12 years.
I played high school soccer at Chaminade High School. After high school, I won a full-ride scholarship to Saint Louis University in Saint Louis, Mo., and played for 2 years. I left college to play professionally for the team that today is known as the New York Red Bulls in New Jersey. I’ve been playing professional soccer since 2002 for 12 years. From my experience, all those youngsters and all those soccer moms can see there’s a future for a young boy or a girl who loves soccer in high school to play in college but also professionally.
I feel that I've been highly blessed to have the talent to do what I love most in life and get paid to do it. I love the challenge of soccer, the rivalry, the intensity of the game and most of all being challenged. I like to work really hard and then have that work pay-off in success. I'm fortunate to be able to play midfielder and be responsible for attacking and defending. Midfielders are the soccer players who run the most – generally about 8 miles in an average game. We train four or five times per week and run 4 to 5 miles during each training session. We play once per week, and we get one off day. I love it! I’ve mentioned my success and my love for the sport of soccer to encourage youngsters - both boys and girls - and to let them know there’s a future for them in soccer starting in preschool and lasting through a professional career.
Tomorrow: Brad Davis on His Toughest Soccer Game Ever and His First Deer with a Bow
