Two Jamaican drafted in 1st round of MLS draft

[Zeppo]

Or simply not seen.

Well if any of these kids were truly concerned about getting seen by European clubs then they probably shouldn't have gone to NCAA ball in the first place.

But as I pointed out earlier, the top players and the top schools are monitored by clubs in several European leagues (Scandinavia, Bundesliga, etc.).

Apart from the earlier examples that I gave in this thread, there are two young Yanks who have gone on trial in Europe just this past week: one with a Bundesliga team and the other in Israel.

As for O'Brian White, he was voted as the best college player in the nation a year ago (Hermann Trophy), so you can't tell me that no one knew about him. Who knows whether he had other offers from Europe, but I have a hard time believing that he would have passed them up for an MLS contract (that wasn't even a Gen Adidas contract) if they were there.

I'm guessing that his knee injury scared off any potential suitors from overseas.

[Me]

As for O'Brian White, he was voted as the best college player in the nation a year ago (Hermann Trophy), so you can't tell me that no one knew about him. Who knows whether he had other offers from Europe, but I have a hard time believing that he would have passed them up for an MLS contract (that wasn't even a Gen Adidas contract) if they were there.

I'm guessing that his knee injury scared off any potential suitors from overseas.

Go read Westman's post about more than one of the Jamaican players having options.

Shame on the MLS for paying people 12k and 33k in DC, NY and LA.

[Tilla]

And the fact is, most of these guys are graduates of some university and they can choose between finding a job in their field or sticking with this Development Player deal. Anyway, here is the 2008 MLS Players' Salaries, you can decide for yourself. 12K and 17K are what these guys could earn working a minimum wage job at McDonalds. They should be earning much more than that when you consider the physical risk they put themselves through as well as the fact that the player life in the game is extremely short. I even have a problem with the 30K salary offered to first and second year players in the league. Take Dane Richards for example, he earns $30K and you see the player he is with the NY Red Bulls.

[Zeppo]

Go read Westman's post about more than one of the Jamaican players having options.

Shame on the MLS for paying people 12k and 33k in DC, NY and LA.

Yet he strangely names neither the players nor their supposed offers. Hmmm....

Shame on the MLS for paying people 12k and 33k in DC, NY and LA.

Indeed! Clearly those players should have held out for a big money offer from the NPL!

[Zeppo]

And the fact is, most of these guys are graduates of some university and they can choose between finding a job in their field or sticking with this Development Player deal.

That's a very good point you make.

And to be honest, I couldn't blame any of these college players if they decided to say no to MLS and graduate college instead. Especially when they have athletic scholarships paying for their tuition (even if it's a partial scholarship).

As a good example, right now there is a U.S. U-20 player who also happens to be the star forward on Harvard's soccer team. There has been talk of him going into the MLS draft, but he has stated that there has to be something better than that to convince him to walk away from one of the most prestigious universities in the world. And who could blame him?

An even more interesting case is Mike Fisher. He actually won the Hermann Trophy twice, but turned down professional soccer in order to dedicate himself to medical school. He stated:

“Soccer's a little different in that if you come out of college and want to play, maybe you'll make $30,000 a year. If you're lucky and play well for five or six years, you maybe get up to high five figures in salary. If you go to medical school and come out of your residency, you start making six figures after two years of private practice.”

Hard to argue with that.

[Me]

Yet he strangely names neither the players nor their supposed offers. Hmmm....


Indeed! Clearly those players should have held out for a big money offer from the NPL!

Is it his place to come on the forum and discuss their private affairs. Silly lad you are.


Those young Americans being paid that amount should know that they can do better. Shame on MLS.