In the big book of the US national team, Eddie Hawkins represents a footnote. However, in a country that has a complicated history with the game, not to mention with race and class, the now 49-year-old is a prime example of how love for the sport can burn bright even through dark times. The first US-born African-American player to appear for the Stars and Stripes, Hawkins won just the one cap, in 1984, and was one of many domestic talents of his era who fell through the cracks. Having grown up in a soccer hotbed north of New York City, Hawkins played in the respected Cosmopolitan League, and he was drafted into the star-studded NASL as a 17-year-old by the Washington Diplomats. He turned down the chance to line-up next to Johan Cruyff and Co, choosing university instead, but Hawkins excelled as a collegiate player and was a regular in the national team camps of the time...[continued]
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Eddie Hawkins @ Wikipedia
