November 18, 2025 • 10 mins
Join us on Daily Sports History as we look back at Freddy Adu's groundbreaking debut as the youngest professional athlete in US history. At just 14 years old, Adu signed with D.C. United in 2004, captivating the soccer world and redefining what was possible for young athletes. Explore the story behind his rise, the hype surrounding his career, and his lasting legacy in American soccer.
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https://open.spotify.com/show/4NDPYbJIIC3xRw6qRvItVr
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Email: dailysportshistory@gmail.com
YouTube: YouTube.com/@dailysportshistory
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
On November eighteenth, two thousand and three, soccer player Freddy
Adu becomes the youngest professional team sport athlete in America
at the age of fourteen when he signs a contract
with DC United of Major League Soccer, making news coverage
across America and attracting even more eyes to the MLS,
(00:21):
a league that is starting to grow more and more. Today,
we're going to dive into how this all happened and
what all happened to Freddy Adue today on Daily Sports History.
Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide
(00:44):
as you daily learn more about sports history, increasing your
sports knowledge, and today we're going to learn even more
about Freddie ado and today's trivia question to listen out
for is who beat Freddy aduw's record to be the
youngest professional team sport athlete in America. Now, pro sports
in America has always been something that everyone looks up
(01:05):
to and as many of us being kids, our dream
is to make it one day to these leagues, and
for select few were able to do that younger than
anyone else. In the NFL, the youngest player ever drafted
was Amoibe Akoye, who was nineteen years old, who actually
entered college at the age of sixteen and had graduated
by the age of nineteen before joining the NFL. In
(01:27):
the NBA, the youngest player was Andrew Bynham, who played
in his first game six days after his eighteenth birthday.
In the NHL, their youngest player was Hmed Beep Godiline,
who made his debut at the age of sixteen in
nineteen forty two. In Major League Baseball, Joe Knoxhall made
(01:48):
his debut with the Cincinnati Reds in nineteen forty four
at just the age of fifteen. Now those are considered
the four major sports groups in America, but growing sports
leagues in America is the MLS Major League Soccer. They
started in nineteen ninety three and had quickly grown to
(02:08):
become the fifth largest professional league in the United States
and are continued to grow with the popularity of soccer
growing across America, catching up with the rest of the world.
But ten years after their exception in two thousand and three,
they made a big splash to get headlined across America
when they signed Freddy Adu at the age of fourteen.
(02:31):
But who was Freddy See? He was born in Ghana,
where he grew up playing soccer all the time, as
it is a national pastime there, and he was playing
with teenagers and men until he was eight years old.
And then his mother went agreeing to card in a
visa lottery and was able to move her and Freddy
(02:51):
to America and they moved to Maryland, and of course
he quickly got into playing soccer again, but it was
a cultural shock, of course, at this age when he
knew nothing else and soccer wasn't the biggest sport here,
but it's what he'd loved to do, and he would
play against boys that were several years older, and at
the age of eleven, he actually attended the IMG Academy
(03:12):
where he's facing off against high schoolers because he was
just that skilled. I mean, he continued to increase his
skill so much so that in the two thousand and
four MLS Super Draft, the Dallas Byrne had the number
one pick and Freddy was being talked about as being
the consensus number one pick, but the MLS actually worked
(03:33):
out a deal where the DC United team would actually
be able to pick him so he could stay closer
to home as he was so young, and this allowed
him to play for his local team, DC United. There
were actually two other players in Bobby Convey and Santino
Quaranta who into who both played at the age of
sixteen in the MLS, but it wasn't until two thousand
(03:54):
and four when he actually played his first game against
the San Jo's A Earthquakes and where he was a
second half substitution, and once he made his appearance, he
officially became the youngest player to appear in a United
States professional sports team, and just two weeks later, he
would go on to score his first goal and again
being the youngest to do that as well. And in
his first season, he finished with five goals in three
(04:17):
assists in thirty regular season games. Although he did start
a few times, he was mainly in a backup role,
which is understandable for how young he was, and this
happens with rookies across all sports. You don't always just
make a big splash right away. Now, before his first season,
he signed his contract that was estimated to be five
hundred thousand dollars a year and would offer an additional
(04:40):
five hundred thousand dollars in marketing deals, making a million
dollar contract and making him the highest paid player in
MLS history, which definitely made everyone in the league kind
of upset at Freddy. You had men who had been
playing for years working their way up with this upstart league,
and this kid who's not even starting is making more
(05:02):
than you. It's a challenge that a lot of us
deal with in our regular lives, and it's very frustrating,
and you can understand why other players would be frustrated
with him, and it definitely stunted his growth as he
didn't have complete support from a lot of players and teammates.
So definitely allowed cause Freddy to be kind of introverted
and kind of a loner, and this stunted his growth
(05:22):
developed physically and mentally as he didn't have people to
work out with, people to teach him other than coaches,
and he didn't have the support of a team, and
that was definitely a challenge. And in his second season,
he was actually suspended one game after he complained about
playing time to the media. But he really struggled his
first three seasons and minute even after three seasons, he
(05:44):
was only seventeen, but during that time he only scored
eleven goals in eighty seven matches. He wasn't the savior
for the league that everyone thought he would be. Despite
his challenges, he was selected as an MLS All Star
two times, but on December of two thousand and six,
he would get traded to Real Salt Lake, where he
would play just one season, scoring one goal in eleven games.
(06:07):
And after this he opted out of his contract and
decided to join Benficia of the Portugal League and started
playing in Europe, and he would play for them and
get loaned out to multiple teams during that time. Now,
if you don't know, and loaned out means to kind
of get to play with a few teams here and there,
but you still belong to your original team. And he
would play there until twenty eleven, when he would come
(06:30):
back to MLS and join the Philadelphia Union, where he'd
played there for two years, scoring a total of seven
goals in thirty five contests. And again he would bounce
around to some other leagues across the world before coming
back to the North American Soccer League, which is kind
of like a minor league for soccer, and play with
the Tampa Bay Rowdies for a couple of years, then
(06:50):
play with the Las Vegas Lights of the United States
League before joining, although he would be released at the
end of the season and he wouldn't sign again to
a team until twenty twenty when he signed with the
Swiss football team, and that would be the last team
he could play for, and he finished with a career
twenty nine goals in league play. And many say that
(07:12):
Freddy on the field was an adequate player. He wasn't
the best player. He wasn't adequate a guy that could
make the roster, but no one that was an All
Star and the only reason he made All Star appearances
was fan votes. But he didn't live up to his potential,
and there's many reasons for that. You know, it's probably
because he started too young, when he didn't have the
mental development that many youngsters get. A lot of players
(07:34):
when they start so young, they're not fully developed. At
the age of fourteen, you're not fully developed. You're still
going through puberty, you're still learning what it's like to
be a person, let alone play on a major league
soccer level. And it didn't help that many resented him
in the league for how much he was being paid,
being touted as the savior of the league, and he
didn't seem to be any better than they were. Though
(07:56):
he could play on the field and he was good
enough to be in the league. He wasn't the savior
and he wasn't an All Star, and many label him
a failure for that. But he got to live out
his dream. He played professional in America and overseas, and
he got to play soccer for over fifteen years, which
for many of us would be great. And it's crazy
to think that he is out of soccer now and
(08:16):
he played fifteen years of professional soccer and he's only
thirty five years old. He grew up a lot. He
grew up fast, and sometimes that's not the best thing
and really depends on the people. But a lot of
times the youngest players take time to develop, and Freddie
really wasn't given the time to develop. Teams didn't nurture him.
He got bounced around a lot of times. And if
(08:37):
you look at the success stories of young players and
other sports, usually they are supported. Wayne Gretzky was really
young when he played his first professional game, but he
was nurtured by the team and they slowly worked their
way up with him. You look at others like Kobe
Bryant and Kevin Garnett who were fresh out of high
school joining the NBA, and they also were nurtured and
(08:58):
took time. The teams took time to develop them. And
sometimes even though you get them early, they're not going
to save your franchise right away. You got to develop
them and hope your team and your development can bring
out the greatness in them. And in twenty twenty three,
the Sacramento Republic signed thirteen year old Devon Kimberrow to
(09:19):
a professional contract, beating Freddie's record, making him the youngest
in US history. As they are part of the USL
and he and hopefully they will learn from the challenges
that I had with Freddie and he can become even
more successful and look to Freddie as a guiding light.
And if you want to dive into more MLS content,
(09:39):
check out the Designated Players and MLS podcast, where your
host Andrew and Connor go through all things in the
MLS past, present and future so you don't miss out
on all your soccer needs. And if you enjoy today's
episode of Daily Sports History, please tell a friend about it.
Best way for us to grow is where I a mouth.
(10:00):
Have you telling a friend how much you're learning? On
Daily Sports History. They'll want to learn too, and come
back tomorrow for more Daily Sports History And did you
catch the answer today's trivia question. The youngest player to
beat Freddie Adou's record to be the youngest player in
North American team sports history was Devon Kimbro, who signed
(10:22):
a professional contract with the Sacrament of Republic at the
age of thirteen games
On November eighteenth, two thousand and three, soccer player Freddy
Adu becomes the youngest professional team sport athlete in America
at the age of fourteen when he signs a contract
with DC United of Major League Soccer, making news coverage
across America and attracting even more eyes to the MLS,
(00:21):
a league that is starting to grow more and more. Today,
we're going to dive into how this all happened and
what all happened to Freddy Adue today on Daily Sports History.
Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide
(00:44):
as you daily learn more about sports history, increasing your
sports knowledge, and today we're going to learn even more
about Freddie ado and today's trivia question to listen out
for is who beat Freddy aduw's record to be the
youngest professional team sport athlete in America. Now, pro sports
in America has always been something that everyone looks up
(01:05):
to and as many of us being kids, our dream
is to make it one day to these leagues, and
for select few were able to do that younger than
anyone else. In the NFL, the youngest player ever drafted
was Amoibe Akoye, who was nineteen years old, who actually
entered college at the age of sixteen and had graduated
by the age of nineteen before joining the NFL. In
(01:27):
the NBA, the youngest player was Andrew Bynham, who played
in his first game six days after his eighteenth birthday.
In the NHL, their youngest player was Hmed Beep Godiline,
who made his debut at the age of sixteen in
nineteen forty two. In Major League Baseball, Joe Knoxhall made
(01:48):
his debut with the Cincinnati Reds in nineteen forty four
at just the age of fifteen. Now those are considered
the four major sports groups in America, but growing sports
leagues in America is the MLS Major League Soccer. They
started in nineteen ninety three and had quickly grown to
(02:08):
become the fifth largest professional league in the United States
and are continued to grow with the popularity of soccer
growing across America, catching up with the rest of the world.
But ten years after their exception in two thousand and three,
they made a big splash to get headlined across America
when they signed Freddy Adu at the age of fourteen.
(02:31):
But who was Freddy See? He was born in Ghana,
where he grew up playing soccer all the time, as
it is a national pastime there, and he was playing
with teenagers and men until he was eight years old.
And then his mother went agreeing to card in a
visa lottery and was able to move her and Freddy
(02:51):
to America and they moved to Maryland, and of course
he quickly got into playing soccer again, but it was
a cultural shock, of course, at this age when he
knew nothing else and soccer wasn't the biggest sport here,
but it's what he'd loved to do, and he would
play against boys that were several years older, and at
the age of eleven, he actually attended the IMG Academy
(03:12):
where he's facing off against high schoolers because he was
just that skilled. I mean, he continued to increase his
skill so much so that in the two thousand and
four MLS Super Draft, the Dallas Byrne had the number
one pick and Freddy was being talked about as being
the consensus number one pick, but the MLS actually worked
(03:33):
out a deal where the DC United team would actually
be able to pick him so he could stay closer
to home as he was so young, and this allowed
him to play for his local team, DC United. There
were actually two other players in Bobby Convey and Santino
Quaranta who into who both played at the age of
sixteen in the MLS, but it wasn't until two thousand
(03:54):
and four when he actually played his first game against
the San Jo's A Earthquakes and where he was a
second half substitution, and once he made his appearance, he
officially became the youngest player to appear in a United
States professional sports team, and just two weeks later, he
would go on to score his first goal and again
being the youngest to do that as well. And in
his first season, he finished with five goals in three
(04:17):
assists in thirty regular season games. Although he did start
a few times, he was mainly in a backup role,
which is understandable for how young he was, and this
happens with rookies across all sports. You don't always just
make a big splash right away. Now, before his first season,
he signed his contract that was estimated to be five
hundred thousand dollars a year and would offer an additional
(04:40):
five hundred thousand dollars in marketing deals, making a million
dollar contract and making him the highest paid player in
MLS history, which definitely made everyone in the league kind
of upset at Freddy. You had men who had been
playing for years working their way up with this upstart league,
and this kid who's not even starting is making more
(05:02):
than you. It's a challenge that a lot of us
deal with in our regular lives, and it's very frustrating,
and you can understand why other players would be frustrated
with him, and it definitely stunted his growth as he
didn't have complete support from a lot of players and teammates.
So definitely allowed cause Freddy to be kind of introverted
and kind of a loner, and this stunted his growth
(05:22):
developed physically and mentally as he didn't have people to
work out with, people to teach him other than coaches,
and he didn't have the support of a team, and
that was definitely a challenge. And in his second season,
he was actually suspended one game after he complained about
playing time to the media. But he really struggled his
first three seasons and minute even after three seasons, he
(05:44):
was only seventeen, but during that time he only scored
eleven goals in eighty seven matches. He wasn't the savior
for the league that everyone thought he would be. Despite
his challenges, he was selected as an MLS All Star
two times, but on December of two thousand and six,
he would get traded to Real Salt Lake, where he
would play just one season, scoring one goal in eleven games.
(06:07):
And after this he opted out of his contract and
decided to join Benficia of the Portugal League and started
playing in Europe, and he would play for them and
get loaned out to multiple teams during that time. Now,
if you don't know, and loaned out means to kind
of get to play with a few teams here and there,
but you still belong to your original team. And he
would play there until twenty eleven, when he would come
(06:30):
back to MLS and join the Philadelphia Union, where he'd
played there for two years, scoring a total of seven
goals in thirty five contests. And again he would bounce
around to some other leagues across the world before coming
back to the North American Soccer League, which is kind
of like a minor league for soccer, and play with
the Tampa Bay Rowdies for a couple of years, then
(06:50):
play with the Las Vegas Lights of the United States
League before joining, although he would be released at the
end of the season and he wouldn't sign again to
a team until twenty twenty when he signed with the
Swiss football team, and that would be the last team
he could play for, and he finished with a career
twenty nine goals in league play. And many say that
(07:12):
Freddy on the field was an adequate player. He wasn't
the best player. He wasn't adequate a guy that could
make the roster, but no one that was an All
Star and the only reason he made All Star appearances
was fan votes. But he didn't live up to his potential,
and there's many reasons for that. You know, it's probably
because he started too young, when he didn't have the
mental development that many youngsters get. A lot of players
(07:34):
when they start so young, they're not fully developed. At
the age of fourteen, you're not fully developed. You're still
going through puberty, you're still learning what it's like to
be a person, let alone play on a major league
soccer level. And it didn't help that many resented him
in the league for how much he was being paid,
being touted as the savior of the league, and he
didn't seem to be any better than they were. Though
(07:56):
he could play on the field and he was good
enough to be in the league. He wasn't the savior
and he wasn't an All Star, and many label him
a failure for that. But he got to live out
his dream. He played professional in America and overseas, and
he got to play soccer for over fifteen years, which
for many of us would be great. And it's crazy
to think that he is out of soccer now and
(08:16):
he played fifteen years of professional soccer and he's only
thirty five years old. He grew up a lot. He
grew up fast, and sometimes that's not the best thing
and really depends on the people. But a lot of
times the youngest players take time to develop, and Freddie
really wasn't given the time to develop. Teams didn't nurture him.
He got bounced around a lot of times. And if
(08:37):
you look at the success stories of young players and
other sports, usually they are supported. Wayne Gretzky was really
young when he played his first professional game, but he
was nurtured by the team and they slowly worked their
way up with him. You look at others like Kobe
Bryant and Kevin Garnett who were fresh out of high
school joining the NBA, and they also were nurtured and
(08:58):
took time. The teams took time to develop them. And
sometimes even though you get them early, they're not going
to save your franchise right away. You got to develop
them and hope your team and your development can bring
out the greatness in them. And in twenty twenty three,
the Sacramento Republic signed thirteen year old Devon Kimberrow to
(09:19):
a professional contract, beating Freddie's record, making him the youngest
in US history. As they are part of the USL
and he and hopefully they will learn from the challenges
that I had with Freddie and he can become even
more successful and look to Freddie as a guiding light.
And if you want to dive into more MLS content,
(09:39):
check out the Designated Players and MLS podcast, where your
host Andrew and Connor go through all things in the
MLS past, present and future so you don't miss out
on all your soccer needs. And if you enjoy today's
episode of Daily Sports History, please tell a friend about it.
Best way for us to grow is where I a mouth.
(10:00):
Have you telling a friend how much you're learning? On
Daily Sports History. They'll want to learn too, and come
back tomorrow for more Daily Sports History And did you
catch the answer today's trivia question. The youngest player to
beat Freddie Adou's record to be the youngest player in
North American team sports history was Devon Kimbro, who signed
(10:22):
a professional contract with the Sacrament of Republic at the
age of thirteen games
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