family lived in a trailer park where he and his siblings grew up playing soccer with the complex's large population of Hispanic immigrants. In his teens, Dempsey maintained these ties playing in a local Mexican-dominated adult league. His older brother, Ryan, was offered a tryout for the Dallas Texans, an elite youth soccer club, and brought Dempsey, who was noticed and recruited while passing time juggling a ball on the sidelines. Dempsey became a standout on the team at an early age but had to quit due to financial constraints as his eldest sister Jennifer was becoming a ranked youth tennis player. Several parents of his teammates with the Texans offered to assist the Dempseys with expenses and travel, allowing him to rejoin the club. On November 27, 1995, Dempsey's 16-year-old sister Jennifer died from a brain aneurysm. Dempsey was devastated with the family's loss and later explained that this event helped him develop a deeper motivation to pursue soccer in honor of his sister. He went on to be the captain and high scorer of the Texans and was honored with the MVP of the Tampa Bay Sun Bowl tournament. Dempsey studied the play of Argentina's national team, especially Diego Maradona, and was heartbroken when the news came to Nacogdoches that Maradona would not be playing in the 1994 World Cup game played in the Cotton Bowl. He attended Furman University as a health and exercise science major and a key player for Paladins soccer. Club career New England Revolution The New England Revolution selected Clint Dempsey eighth overall in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. In his rookie season, he started 23 of 24 matches scoring seven goals. Dempsey helped the Revolution to the Eastern Conference Finals and earned 2004 MLS Rookie of the Year Honors. He was also named the 2004 Man of the Year by the Midnight Riders. In 2005, Dempsey contributed ten goals and nine assists in 26 games. He scored the game-winning goal in the Eastern Conference Final on his way to an appearance in the MLS Cup Final. In 2006, Dempsey added eight more goals, but missed significant time in the playoffs due to injury. He came on as a substitute in the MLS Cup Final, but the Revolution lost their second straight final, this time in a penalty shoot-out. Fulham 2006–07 season In December 2006, English club Fulham offered MLS $4 million for the