Richard Dean Davis (born November 24, 1958) is an American former soccer midfielder, and former captain of the U.S. National Team for much of the 1980s. He is considered by fans the best U.S.-born player of the North American Soccer League era and is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Youth Davis was born in Denver, Colorado, and began playing soccer at the age of seven for an AYSO soccer team in Claremont, California. He was an All-American high school player at Damien High School in La Verne, California. In 1977, he played a single season of college soccer at Santa Clara University While at Santa Clara, he was a member of the Broncos team which took the U-19 National Open Championship (McGuire Cup). Professional An American on a team of international superstars with the New York Cosmos, he helped the team to three NASL league titles in 1978, 1980 and 1982. He began playing with the team during the 1978 season and was selected as the 1979 North American Player of the Year in his second season. He was selected as an NASL all-star Honorable Mention in the 1983 season. In 1983, the St. Louis Steamers of the Major Indoor Soccer League signed Davis away from the Cosmos. Davis moved just in time to avoid the collapse of the Cosmos. Despite numerous nagging injuries, Davis led the Steamers in scoring and was an integral part of the team's run to the MISL championship series which the Steamers lost to the Baltimore Blast. He played one more season with the Steamers before moving to the New York Express, an MISL expansion team heavily staffed by former Cosmos players. The team lasted until the 1986-1987 All-Star break when it folded. In March 1987, Davis moved to the Tacoma Stars for the remainder of the 1986-1987 season. In January 1989, Davis injured his knee, requiring multiple surgeries. He was on the roster for the 1989 Seattle Storm of the Western Soccer Alliance. In 1990, he retired from playing professional soccer. National team Davis became an integral part of the U.S. national team in 1977, first with the U.S. Olympic team and U20 teams, then the senior national team. Between September 11 and October 4, 1976, the U.S. U-20 national team played the qualifying games for the 1977 FIFA World U-20 Championship. While the team went 5-2, it failed to