SoccerPod
The soccerPod hosts long-form, heart to heart interviews with past legends of the game of soccer. There is a massive market for soccer in the United States today, but it wasn’t always this way. We go back in time and talk to legends from the prior era, whose stories are not well known in the United States. We talk about playing with no shin guards, the apparent impossibility of a straight red card and smoking cigarettes at halftime. We talk about the legendary games they were a part of, the goals they scored and the trophies that they won. But we also explore the time and culture in which our guests grew up – whether it was, as a kid - seeing the Berlin Wall go up in their backyard, or going to sleep to the sounds of IRA bombs in 1980’s Belfast. From childhood through their professional careers, on to where they are today – our guests’ have all had interesting rides – and we explore them here.
For those who love it, the beautiful game connects us all. So relax, kick back and if you are into soccer talk with a nod towards nostalgia – or you just want to hear some fascinating stories that will make you laugh - give us a go.
SoccerPod
Cobi Jones
Freeman Jones was a black, PhD-educated scientist in Jim Crow America, who was the lead of his team. However, when his company opened up the facility for tours for investors or the public, he was kindly asked by ownership to exit the facility and go wait in the yard with the other black employees, most of whom were part of the cleaning crew.
Freeman would go onto marry Mada Myers, who had marched with Dr Martin Luther King in Mobile, Alabama, and was active in that legendary Civil Rights movement of the 1960s American South. She later taught English Literature for nearly 30 years. Freeman and Mada were married for 62 years.
It’s not surprising that such people would go on to raise four lovely children – the youngest of whom they named: Cobi N’Gai Jones. As a young man, Cobi was very nervous when he approached his highly educated parents with his desire to put his education on hold to pursue a career in soccer, where there was no established league, hardly any professional players and very little money.
Surprisingly to Cobi, it was his mother, the educator, who told her son, " Go chase this dream of yours, son, and see where it takes you.”
Cobi went on to have a legendary US soccer career; he is in the Guinness Book for most games played for the US National Team, and the most continuous years played with one MLS club – two records that will never be touched.
So, as he poignantly told me: in the end, he was glad his mother won the argument.
Cobi was kind enough to host me at the LA Galaxy facility where he will soon join Landon Donovan and David Beckham in the form of a 10-foot-tall bronze statue - soon to be unveiled in the Legends Plaza at the Galaxy stadium entrance.
It was a pleasure to sit with Cobi Jones and I hope you enjoy it was well.
Ep 24 – Cobi Jones
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