Podcast #7 – Kasey Keller on Breaking Barriers, Beating Brazil & Building a Legacy

Doug Dvorak (00:01.422)
Good day Mission Possible Podcast Nation. I’m your host Doug Dvorak and I’m extremely excited to bring you inspiring stories from incredible guests. These individuals are on a mission to create remarkable possibilities that not only enhance their own lives but also make a lasting impact on the communities around them. Stay tuned for some truly amazing conversations. My guest today is professional soccer player and ESPN commentator Kasey Keller. Kasey, how are you?

Kasey (00:28.472)
Hey Doug.

Doug Dvorak (00:29.806)
Great, great to have you as a guest, thank you. Kasey is a goalkeeper who played for the United States for 17 years and also was one of the leading Americans playing pro soccer in Europe during that time. Kasey played in the 1998 and 2006 World Cups. He played in three of the United States’ six games in the run to the semi-finals at the 1995 Copa America. Three of the United States’ five games in its run up to the semi-finals at the 1999 Confederations Cup and 31 World Cup qualifiers in 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2004, and 2005.

He played 102 full international matches for the United States between 1990 and 2007. He was captain of the United States team at the 1996 Olympics and was chosen as the Honda Award winner in 1999 and 2005. He was also the USSF men’s athlete of the year in 1997, 1999, and 2005. He played in six CONCAF gold cups, including winning that title in 2002 and in 2005. But perhaps Kasey’s most spectacular game ever in the Nets, what’s this victory over Brazil in the 1998 CONCAF gold cup. Kasey spent most of his club career in Europe, but returned to the United States for three MLS seasons at the end of his career.

winning US Open Cup titles with Seattle in all three of those years. Kasey, it’s a high honor and privilege to be with you here today.

Kasey (02:35.534)
Thanks, Doug. Did you miss anything? I’m not sure. I mean, that was a heck of an introduction. Thank you.

Doug Dvorak (02:40.546)
We could spend 45 minutes and I called it down but thanks again Kasey, always great to see you. Let’s talk about your career journey and trajectory. Can you please share with our Mission Possible listeners the impact your dad Bernie had on your professional sports journey? And I understand he was an elite baseball athlete and was invited to try out for the New York Yankees.

Kasey (03:02.434)
Yeah, my dad, growing up in a family where sports was very important and I spent a lot of time growing up at ball fields, mostly baseball and fast pitch fields. My dad was a very good baseball player, but he was a top fast pitch pitcher back in the day and would have gone on to some of the big traveling teams, but you don’t really leave a farm. The farm can’t kind of look after itself while you’re traveling around the world playing fast pitch.

I think it’s a piece that he would have probably, you we’ve talked about it in the past where he wished he would have maybe taken some time and done it. But in the end for me, it was, yeah, just always growing up in a competitive atmosphere, always growing up with other kids at a park somewhere, trying to form some sort of game, doing something in.

In a lot of ways, I was always kind of one of the youngest that was always trying to compete with some of the older kids and that there’s no question that that helped. You know, my dad pitched at Washington State. As you mentioned, he had an opportunity. He got drafted in the late rounds with the Yankees, but never really felt that he was good enough to make it work. So he never went so, but but he definitely instilled that competitiveness in myself. And you know what?

But my dad being like, you know, probably a lot of men of his age didn’t grow up with soccer, you didn’t grow up with that part of it. And so it was probably something that he felt frustrated in as I became more and more successful in a sport that he really couldn’t maybe help me with or even kind of understand at the level that he did with the more traditional American sports.

Where I do give him an absolute ton of credit was the amount of time that I spent in the yard, know, catching a football, catching a baseball, hitting a baseball, shooting hoops, you know, all kinds of different stuff on that side of it. So just, you know, that help in making me just a very well-rounded athlete. I remember having a conversation with my dad when I was about 14, and I had given up the other sports to really concentrate on becoming a soccer player. And he didn’t really understand

Kasey (05:17.442)
you the decision that I was making, because I remember he asked me, said, you know, you’re giving up sports to concentrate on a sport that doesn’t have a pro league in our own country. At this stage, the NAACL had folded, MLS hadn’t started yet. And, you know, the hubris of youth where I said, dad, don’t worry. You know, my plan is to, you know.

get a full ride scholarship and then go to Europe and preferably play in England. And it wasn’t until later that I realized that no American had actually done that yet. And there I was telling my dad at 14 that that was just the route that I was gonna take when no American had done that. And so I can understand now being a father and if my child had come to me and told me that they were gonna do something that…

that basically no American had ever done before. Yeah, I would be a little bit skeptical as well. But the support was there. I mean, my parents were divorced, but they were both in different ways, extremely supportive of the decisions that I made. But then it really wasn’t until my first full season at Millwall in the English championship that my father understood the decisions I’d made and came and

watch from the stands, the atmosphere and the commitment and the passion that he’s like, yeah, I get the decision that you made.

Doug Dvorak (06:49.038)
So you’re growing up on an egg farm. What impact did that getting up early chores, did that impact your soccer career, your goal setting? That’s not like working at the local Starbucks.

Kasey (07:01.602)
Yeah. No, I think the first impact it was that it did not make me a morning person. I think that was probably the first impact that it did. yeah, I think there was a funny story that when I signed for the Sounders later in my career, was in, know, Drew Carey being one of the owners, we were having a conversation one time when I first signed before.

you know, the the Sounders got kicked off and he was was making he was he had read something on that I had said in a in an interview one time and it kind of took a little bit of a life of its own on the Internet as sometimes those things do. But we’re talking about, you know, growing up on the farm and work ethic and and and whatnot. And I basically said, said, you know, the thing about growing up on a farm is

What are you gonna do? Let the cows starve? You know, it doesn’t matter how you’re feeling, if you’ve got a cold, if you’ve got the flu, you have to get out of bed and go do it because nobody else is gonna do it. And I think I always just kind of grew up with that mentality of there’s no excuses, nobody else is gonna do it for you.

just get out there and give yourself the best opportunity to succeed. And guess what? You’re not gonna succeed by staying in bed. You’re gonna succeed by going out there when you’re not feeling 100 % and proving that you can still get the job done. So, you know, I think that was one of the things that I really, really picked up from farm life was, and from my dad is.

Is that understanding that if you live on a farm, there’s 25 hours of work and every 24 hour day, and there’s always something that can be done and you have to, know, yes, I mean, of course you can’t work 25 hours. So you have to triage what you’re doing. And sometimes though, that’s, that’s the same. If you want to become a pro athlete, you, you’re always understanding that it’s a 24 hour, seven day, 12 months job. It’s not just.

Kasey (09:06.358)
when I get to the training field, when I get to match day. No, it’s all about the preparation and it’s all about the work you’ve put in from day one.

Doug Dvorak (09:15.938)
Let’s talk about your soccer beginnings. What sparked your passion for soccer and when did you realize you could make a career of it?

Kasey (09:22.734)
think that like any other kid, just kind of watched other kids playing and just kind of went, that looks like fun. And I said something to my mom and she found a team for me to play on. I was telling this story and I was speaking at an event in my hometown and it kind of struck me and I can’t believe that I never really picked up on it before. Kind of growing up, I had a very dark beginning to my youth soccer career.

So that first team that I ended up playing on, was a team that was a year older than me, but it was still some kids that I went to school with and then consistently went to school with throughout my high school career. So some good friends and you like most youth teams, it’s usually one of the parents that sponsors the team, right? And so this team in particular was sponsored by a friend of mine whose parents owned the local funeral home and cemetery and

That was Woodlawn Funeral Home and Cemetery and we were the Woodlawn Diggers. That was our, that was my team. My first ever youth soccer team. And then the next year when I had, when I kind of signed up on time, I ended up playing with a group of friends of mine from, you know, that I really, you know, kind of day in and day out, my main group of friends. And again, another friend’s dad sponsored that and he owned a local butcher shop. But it wasn’t until 30 years later,

where you really realized kind of how dark that got because their last name was Ridgeway.

Doug Dvorak (10:58.286)
Mmm.

Kasey (10:59.706)
And my friend’s uncle was, yes, Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer. And so I go from my first team being sponsored by a funeral home and my second team having the uncle of my friend be one of the most prolific serial killers in American history. So it was a little bit of a dark upbringing to my youth soccer career, but it really was, I’d say, Doug, when I kind of realized that maybe I could make a go at this.

Doug Dvorak (11:05.731)
my gosh.

Doug Dvorak (11:13.005)
you

Kasey (11:29.866)
was probably my sophomore year in high school, started making, you know, youth national teams, started getting, you know, full ride scholarship offers to, you know, division one schools because they thought I was a senior and not a sophomore. my mom had to make a couple of phone calls to some coaches and say, I think you’re breaking a few NCA rules here. My son’s only 15, so I don’t think, you’re allowed to make those offers right now. And, and that was when I kind of said, you know what?

First and foremost, my goal was to get my education paid for. And then second of all was, let’s position myself to give myself the best opportunity to have a go in Europe. And then from there I chose to go to University of Portland, play under Clive Charles, former West Ham, Cardiff, NASL, Pele named his best 11.

and ASL team of all time and Clive was the left back for Pelé starting 11. So Clive, I take a lot of credit for putting me in the professional mindset in being able to teach me what it was going to take to be a pro when I got to England. So there wasn’t any surprises. I was more prepared to have…

more difficulties than I had. And I think that’s a much better position than thinking that things were going to be a lot easier than they were. I, Clive, I give an absolute ton of credit for giving me that professional preparation at the university level. And so that was, you know, that was probably the, the, the starting point was probably from that sophomore year through my college days. And then what was really cool kind of about through that process was I played up

on one youth World Cup in in 87. So I was underaged. I was the backup goalkeeper for that tournament. 89 was my age groups youth World Cup. It was the best ever finish of a US team. We lost in the semi finals in extra time to Nigeria. I was awarded the silver ball for the second most valuable player of the tournament. And then that kind of

Kasey (13:50.718)
started that idea that, yeah, I think I can make a go at this for sure at the professional level. Again, was the backup for the 90 World Cup team at 20 years old, still in college. And then when I finished my eligibility, it was straight to Europe. And honestly, like five days later, we lost to UCLA in the second round of the playoffs, and I was on trial at Millwall five days later.

17 years later, I came back to America. you know, I credit, even though genetically it was always going to happen, but I credited starting to significantly lose my hair when I had agreed terms with Millwall and then went through the work permit process. And, you know,

kind of being the first American to play in England on an American passport, it was a little bit tricky. so the English FA basically changed all these rules kind of once I kind of went through. And so when I eventually was awarded the work permit, I had signed a three and a half year contract. I had, technically it was Valentine’s Day when I signed.

The season ended the first second week of May and then three full seasons after that. But basically I was awarded a work permit from the home office for the remainder of that first season and one full season. And they said, okay, prove to us that you belong here. And then that framework became a little bit more standard after that. And they tweaked it a bit, but it all started with myself.

And so there was that pressure as well. Yeah, you know, OK, nothing was I think would have been worse as having this dream to be a professional athlete and having a club making a commitment to you. And then because of government bureaucracy or just government rules, whatever you want to say, you know, not being able to fulfill that. So that was where I credited significantly losing my hair those six weeks while I was waiting for that work permit to come came through. And then.

Kasey (16:12.352)
And then I had a managerial change. The manager that signed me was fired. And then you never know what the next person’s going to think of you. then what was great was the new manager sat down with me at the end of the full preseason. And he said, look, by all accounts, you won the starting position. But the other goalkeeper didn’t do anything wrong to lose his spot. So just keep doing what you’re doing and let’s see what happens.

There was one cup game, there was one league game and I played every match the rest of the season. I think it was 48, 51 matches, something like that was named from the fans, the player of the season and my career just kind of went from there.

Doug Dvorak (16:57.198)
So here you are, 14, you tell your dad you’re on an egg farm in Washington, and you say, Dad, I’m gonna be one of the first Americans to break through and play in the European leagues. What were some of the challenges, or the biggest challenges you faced as an American player breaking into the European leagues outside of that work permit issue?

Kasey (17:15.64)
Well, first and foremost is being American. mean, I think in that first, probably three months of that inaugural season, I would say probably half of the interviews I gave started with, know, what is an American doing here and what is an American doing here playing so well? And so there was, there was a really, and there still is, don’t get me wrong. I mean, we’ve improved it over the years, but there’s still a stigma of an American being a soccer player, a footballer. It’s just, you know, if

If you were to ask a chairman to take the same amount of money and buy a Brazilian or an Argentinian or buy an American, he’s going to buy the Brazilian and the Argentinian probably 90, 99 % of the time. It’s just an easier sell than being American. As an American, you then got to the point where, if it makes sense financially, then we’ll do it.

but not on a financial commitment. then so really the only thing that can really change that, and I think a couple of us changed that with the goalkeeping mindset of Americans was that, Americans can play in goal and then it’s gonna take a long series of players in the field to really be able to continue to break that down. I read an article just a few days ago where I think it was a conversation between Christian Pulisic and

in Weston McKinney and they were kind of talking about how still there’s, you know, a stigma involved in being American, regardless of how well you play. A player from a traditional footballing country will get a better benefit of a doubt than you will. And like I said, it’s taken time. We’ve broken down some of those barriers, but there’s still a lot more to go. And the only way you can do it is to have more and more players consistently play at the level that they need to play at.

to change people’s preconceived notions of what an American footballer is.

Doug Dvorak (19:13.368)
Kasey, you amazed me with some data points relative to soccer’s popularity worldwide and the Super Bowl. Can you unpack for our listeners sort of the scale and size of global soccer as it relates to the Super Bowl? Those numbers just blew me away.

Kasey (19:30.318)
Right. Well, I think one of the big reasons why ESPN made such a bid for La Liga for the Spanish league was because they were looking at the worldwide viewing numbers. And so, for example, an average Super Bowl, you know, gets probably around 150 to 200 million, usually about 150, 175 million in America based on, you know, what teams are in the Super Bowl. And then another

30 to 50 million worldwide to watch and I’m pretty sure the average league match between Real Madrid and Barcelona gets about 600 million worldwide. And World Cup final will get 1.5, 2 billion maybe watching a World Cup final. yes, and look.

Doug, there’s a reason why the NFL is trying to push matches in Europe and South America and stuff like that, because they know for the most part, the rest of the world doesn’t watch American sports. When you live in Europe, as long as I did, you understand kind of the European mentality towards American sports. And basically what they say is to Americans is you invent a sport, you’re the only ones who play it and call yourselves world champions.

And so I think it’s one of the things too why America has been a little bit slow to maybe embrace soccer as much as they have because we truly have to compete with the rest of the world and we’re behind. know, America doesn’t like to be behind on anything. We like to be at the forefront of everything and it’s difficult for us to have to share that with the rest of the world. so I think that’s a reason I was speaking at a data analytics.

conference and I’m not a huge into data analytics. I understand the need for it, but I don’t think it’s everything. I think the eye test for someone that has the experience is still better than an algorithm. there’s a big piece of it. And this little piece of this conference that our subject matter was on is why do we have, you know,

Kasey (21:48.239)
310, 320 million people in our country that we know of. And how come we haven’t developed a Messi or a Ronaldo of that world caliber? And I said, well, I’m going to give you some numbers. I’m going to say 1885. That’s the year that this club I played for was founded.

1886 was the year this club I played for was founded. Okay, let’s move to Germany. 1900, the year that club I played for was founded. You know, and we have to accept that we’re playing catch-up. It’d be no different than Germany saying, we’re gonna start our own American Football League, and in 30 years, we expect to be just as good as the NFL. It just doesn’t work that way.

Now what you are starting to see, particularly in basketball, is you’re starting to see a level of foreign player that is significantly competing with the American player. And I said, you’re starting to see a little bit of pushback. You’re starting to see some American players starting to get a little bit frustrated that just by saying you’re American no longer means you are now going to be the star of your team. And that wasn’t the case.

for the majority of life in that sport. And it’s kind of the reverse of what we’ve had to do. We’ve had to fight our way into an arena that already has a preconceived notion that we’re not supposed to be good at this sport.

Doug Dvorak (23:28.822)
interesting. Let’s transition Kasey to some of your professional memorable matches. Is there one game that stands out at the pinnacle of your career and what made it special?

Kasey (23:38.543)
Well, mean, the Brazil match is hard to beat. mean, you’re talking about a FIFA sponsored event. It’s not a friendly. It’s a competitive match. You’re playing against the past World Cup winners with the past leading goal scorer of the tournament in Romario. And it basically became the only time that the US has ever beat Brazil to this date. And that was in 1998.

You know, and there’s two things to that, right? Because a lot of times when a goalkeeper has a great game, he’s so busy that he usually ends up losing 2-0. Great game, should have been 5 or 6 if he hadn’t had a great game. But it’s those games that you can truly influence a match and win. And so, you know, I was able to come up with a string of saves throughout the match. Precky was able to score a great goal and we held on and had a remarkable

bowl victory and know, Romario who was that, you know, that that leading goal scorer, former Golden Boot winner from a World Cup, his comments after the match were basically that it was the best goalkeeping performance he’d ever seen his whole life. And when you have, you know, those kind of accolades from those kind of players against arguably the best team in the world, it’s a hard, it’s hard in a, in a FIFA event, not a friendly, you know, those are hard to beat.

Doug Dvorak (25:04.93)
Yeah, that’s my favorite Kasey Keller reel to watch is that game when you’re in goal against Brazil. Let’s talk about leadership. As a goalkeeper, you’re often seen as a leader on the field. How did you approach that role?

Kasey (25:14.862)
Yep. I think it’s on a sliding scale, right? When you first kind of break in, obviously you don’t have the persona that you have later in your career. So you’re kind of leading by example. You’re leading by just doing things the right way. Day in and day out in training, matches. You’re learning all the time. You’re listening to the right people.

And then as that scale shifts and you’re now in your late 20s and your early 30s and you’ve got a lot more experience than a lot of other players you’re playing with, then it looks upon you to then be that leader. And I’ve always felt that it has to start with example. You can’t be a leader and be kind of a detriment in training, in off the field.

You basically have to lead by example that you’re doing things the right way, both on and off the pitch. That’s the way I always, I always, you know, started that. you know, and then obviously as I, as I got later in my career, you know, some of the honors, you know, being named club captain, at Mooch and Gloubuck, you know, club captain at the Sounders and, and, and, and to kind of kick that off the right way when, when the Sounders started their MLS life. So.

So yeah, and it always started with example. And then how can I help people later? Then when you get kind of in your mid to late 30s, then it’s people coming into advice. But if you’ve done everything wrong yourself, I always find that interesting. I’m gonna go a point here, Doug, is when you look at a lot of drug counselors and stuff like that, they’re coming at it from a standpoint of, okay, I was bad.

Doug Dvorak (26:45.934)
Did you?

Kasey (27:13.558)
And I worked my way out of it. So here’s the example. Brilliant. But isn’t there also an example where I never fell into the trap, first of all? And then how can I keep people from actually falling into the problem so then you don’t have to pull yourself out of it? And I think that’s the way I always looked at it is if I can show the younger players that even at my success and at this stage of my career,

I’m still working harder than you. I’m still prepared every day the right way. Then you’re not going to fall into a situation where you have to have an intervention and somebody has to tell you, look, you better pull your head out because your careers are about to go down the tubes. I can hopefully get players into a situation where somebody said, you know, wow, that guy really overachieved for what his ability level was because

He did all these things the right way. And I think that’s where I find trying to lead by example and then having the experience to say, don’t fall into these traps.

Doug Dvorak (28:25.474)
sidebar here Kasey did you notice that I removed from your intro much and glad back because I tried I tried to pronounce it and I couldn’t so you know you’re in a pressure cooker as a goalkeeper let’s talk about coping with pressure goalkeeping is a high pressure position how did you mentally prepare for games

Kasey (28:31.102)
Hahaha!

Kasey (28:43.151)
Well, you know my wife well and she was for many years was like, why did you have to be a goalkeeper? You know, cause it’s a stress with us, but it’s a stress with the family and friends and everybody around that is feeling that stress through you. And I mean, first and foremost, if you’re going to be a goalkeeper, have to, you know, you have to have a strong back. You have to be able to understand that there’s going to be times when you’re going to have to take the heat.

and you’re going to make the mistake and you’re going to have to hold your hand up and you’re going to have to rectify that later. And if you don’t have that, then don’t be a goalkeeper. And there’s nothing wrong with that. You don’t have to have it. But if you don’t, then you just have to say, got to do a different position because it such a level of stress. And I think a lot of it was to be prepared. I think if you’re doing everything the right way, if you’re

you know, finding what works for you, because I think there’s also some, a pattern to things that can help you fall into that. Look, I had good sports psychologists as well that I fell upon and worked on different mechanisms from visualization and different things like that, which helped. But in the end,

I think it’s really that it’s finding that level of consistency both on and off the pitch. If you’re getting the right training, if you’re getting the right diet, if you’re getting the right sleep, if you’re getting the right personal relationships that you’re not dealing with a lot of drama in your life that then you’re carrying on to the training field and to the into the stadium, it’s got to help. And, you know, I was very fortunate that I, you know,

had and have a great relationship family-wise and I didn’t have to deal with a lot of drama off the field and it helped me keep drama free on the field.

Doug Dvorak (30:34.104)
Yeah, as I’ve gotten to know you, one thing relative to pressure cooker and dealing with setbacks, you said amnesia. Can you unpack amnesia from Kasey Keller’s perspective?

Kasey (30:43.791)
Well, a lot of goalkeeping you have to, I don’t particularly, I think, go into amnesia. I go into more, you gotta compartmentalize the mistakes. can’t forget, because I think if you forget, then you pretend like it didn’t happen.

You know, there was a funny thing and it kind of went counter to what a lot of sports psychologists say. And when I worked with one of them for a little while, I kind of told him and he thought, you know, if it works for you, it works for you. I always wanted to have, at least in warmups, one negative thought. You know, and it’s always that lack of concentration on something easy that then, you know, embarrasses you.

And I always wanted to put that little thought in my head to force me to concentrate on every little thing because I knew that if I didn’t, this embarrassment could fall into place. Now, what’s amazing, Doug, is in my, you know, 600-match professional career, you know, my 100-plus matches with the national team,

I remember the three or four really, really big mistakes more than I remember some of the really big saves that I made at key points. There’s still obviously some big saves that I remember at key points, but you still remember those moments that you think, wow, that was pretty stupid. Where I was very fortunate that those mistakes didn’t really happen in games that had massive influence.

throughout a season, throughout a World Cup qualifying, a World Cup match. You know, they didn’t have huge ramifications. A couple of those mistakes also, my team were able to bail me out by getting an extra goal, maybe getting a point or all three points, which also helps when you make that big mistake, but your team still wins the match. Much easier than making that big mistake and your team getting kicked out of a cup competition or, you know.

Kasey (32:57.313)
not qualifying for a World Cup or something like that. that’s the other side where I was very fortunate.

Doug Dvorak (33:03.234)
Let’s look at the broader perspective. Soc, soccer in the US. How have you seen soccer evolve in the US since you’re playing days? Growing.

Kasey (33:09.358)
It’s significantly growing. mean, think when we went to the World Cup in 1990, I think we had basically two reporters and maybe a thousand people coming from America. know, we’re now, we travel deep now. You know, we go with, you I remember one of the most memorable games in my career was when we drew with Italy in Kaiserslautern in 2006.

And then Italy went on to win the World Cup. With Rammstein Air Force Base in the area, there’s a huge American contingent, it was one of the first times that I really remember being out of the United States and really having, let’s say it’s a 40,000 seat stadium, I can’t remember what Kasser Slaedten holds, but 20,000 people rooting for Italy and 20,000 people rooting for America, where

You know, I’ve played more matches against Mexico and LA where it was in the LA Coliseum with 80,000 people and being 79,000 rooting for Mexico and a thousand people rooting for America. So, you know, when you could then be in Germany against Italy and having the support that we had, it showed you that the level of interest has grown exponentially.

But the hardest part that MLS is going to have going forward is not only you in competition with established American sports, you’re in competition with the biggest leagues in the world that have been established since the 1880s. And to think that you can just crack that is a tough ask. And I like what MLS has done. They’ve gotten, you

people into the stadiums, they’re stable, they’re not going anywhere. We’ve seen multiple leagues in America not be able to make it, folded after a few years. So MLS is stable, it’s just the hard part is finding where you fit in the world echelon and then having the ego of the United States of America to understand that how hard it’s going to be.

Kasey (35:35.33)
to find your place in the leagues that have very similar TV contracts to the NFL, the NBA, and then try to compete with

Doug Dvorak (35:48.43)
Let’s talk about legacy. How do you hope to be remembered in the soccer world?

Kasey (35:53.955)
I think kind of just one of the guys that really got things, you know, got things going, you know, kind of got that established that players can go play in the top leagues in the world. They can play against the best players and be competitive and be respected and, you know, break down some of those stereotypes that are still there but are slowly eroding. And, you know, I was

I was doing a speaking engagement with a friend of mine, Arlo White, who is now one of the main commentators for Live Golf. And we’re doing this speaking engagement. And he said something that I never really realized is that I was the first American to play in La Liga in Spain, in the top flight in Spain. And he said, let’s put that in perspective. He said 12 Americans have walked on the moon before he played in La Liga.

So if you were a young kid growing up, you had a much better chance of walking on the moon than you did playing in La Liga. And those are those little things that just, you know, that people could say that, you know, somebody had to get this thing started. And I’m proud that I was, you know, dumb enough as a 14 year old kid on an egg farm in Olympia, Washington to tell my dad that I’m going to go do something that nobody had really done before.

Doug Dvorak (37:21.698)
That’s really cool. Let’s talk about Kasey Keller’s unseen moments. What’s a behind the scenes moment from your career that fans would be surprised to hear about?

Kasey (37:31.77)
I think what people don’t really understand is kind of the life of when you’re, it’s one thing if you’re in the NBA or the NFL or an American sport and you’re going to, you’re going to, you know, be traded. You’re, oh, I’m going to LA or I’m going to New York. Oh, I’m going to go to Texas or I’m going to go, oh, okay, I’m going to Cleveland, but we’re going have a great time. We’re going to do whatever. You know, I remember, you know, that support where, you know, I had,

I was wanting to leave Tottenham and it was right before the January transfer window and some interest had been coming from a couple teams. I remember the kids were at a birthday party at a swimming pool and I was waiting for a phone call and I saw my phone rang and I saw this country code and I knew who it was from. And I basically went out for about 15 minutes, spoke to this man and came back and basically told my wife that, okay.

we’re moving to Germany. And to have that support to be able to know that there was no, no, I’m not doing it. It was just like, okay. Because by the way, Doug, I wasn’t prepping the house to sell. I wasn’t having to pack up. I had to go play. And so to have that support system behind you to be able to know that

Okay, we’re gonna move to this country, we’re gonna move to that country, and we’re gonna go have a great experience. And then to this day, I miss the Autobahn every day. Every day I miss the Autobahn. But to have that experience and to have the support to be able to do it without even having to think about it, those are those little things behind the scenes that I think the average person doesn’t really realize that.

that goes on, look, don’t get me wrong, also, you the idea that if you have a bad day at work, 100 million people know about it. You know, you have a bad day at work somewhere else, you’re home and you’re angry and whatever else, but then you don’t have to deal with the rest of that. yeah, that’s the other side of it that, you know, there’s, and that’s, think, where you’re starting to see now, and as it’s becoming more and more,

Doug Dvorak (39:33.495)
Hahaha

Kasey (39:52.973)
You know, in the public eye is the professional athletes dealing with the mental health side of it. And in the past it was always, this guy flamed out, he just couldn’t handle it. Now you’re starting to see it in real time where it, where guys are maybe being a little bit more public with that side of the game, because it is, it’s it’s high risk, it’s high reward, but you don’t understand that.

that it’s also very, very public, you know, that every little mistake is going to be replayed in countries all over the world.

Doug Dvorak (40:31.126)
Yeah. Kasey, if you could go back and give your advice to your younger self before starting your professional soccer career, what would you tell them?

Kasey (40:39.672)
Don’t be a goalkeeper, for sure. I mean, what a horrible position to deal with that horrible stress and everything that went along with it. And yeah, in hindsight, yeah, great, no problem. I got through it. But that young self, you’re just kind of like, why do you want to do that?

Doug Dvorak (40:45.763)
But.

Doug Dvorak (40:58.274)
So if did you have the ability and desire to play another position other than go okay always always always

Kasey (41:04.878)
No, no, no, not in soccer. No, not at that level. Yeah, I was a very good athlete. I was a, I didn’t get timed until since my junior year, but I was a, you know, a high 4’6″, 40 guy, you know, I could easily dunk basketballs and stuff like that. I had the athleticism.

Doug Dvorak (41:32.654)
4 6 40 I just was watching a bow. He. Bo ran a 4 3 so you’re a hell of an athlete.

Kasey (41:34.221)
Yeah.

Kasey (41:39.054)
Like a 4’6″, 8″, 4’6″, 9″, not, you know, a high 4’6″.

Well, yes, I mean, that’s a whole nother level there. But yeah, was, you know, and so, yeah, I had a lot of, you know, athletic gifts. And again, there’s another, you know, genetics definitely helped. But yeah, when you get into more skilled positions, it’s difficult. And I found that I was very successful at a certain thing. And I think most people gravitate toward what they’re successful at.

Doug Dvorak (41:48.546)
God, but still four, six, that, wow.

Kasey (42:15.968)
I think in the end what probably would have been probably a different direction is what I could have done in American football basically. Linebacker, tight end, things like that, that would have been interesting to see if I had gone down that route.

Doug Dvorak (42:37.194)
interesting so let’s talk about know professional athletes their athletic career ends and then what so your professional soccer career ends and then for the last twelve years you’ve been a ESPN commentator how was that transition because some professional athletes implode

Kasey (42:58.457)
Well, the first and foremost, they implode because they don’t know what they’re going to do. And I was pretty fortunate that a lot of times what happens is the media has a pretty good idea who gives good interviews, who does different things if they have an opportunity to be able to segue into a life kind of in front of the camera.

I had, I don’t know if it’s necessary you’d call it a tryout, but I did an episode, I did some stuff for Fox and I did some stuff for ESPN. ESPN famously has what they call the car wash and you go out to, yep. Yes, correct, no, no, they invite you.

Doug Dvorak (43:40.17)
Let me ask you this, because they invited you or because you weren’t, were you thinking after pro soccer I want to be a commentator?

Kasey (43:49.643)
I was thinking that I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Now, what I was thinking was on the broadcast side, it gives you a little bit more stability in kind of where you moved, or at least in kind of where I was looking. had pretty quickly after I had retired, I had agreed to do the Sounders Local Broadcast in Seattle.

And then I was approached by Fox and ESPN if I would be interested in doing more national stuff. And so I went out, talked to, went down to LA, talked to the people at Fox. I went out to Connecticut and did what famously is called the car wash, where they put you through all the different scenarios. You call a game, you do like a sports center hit, you do some other media work and they kind of see if there’s something there that they can work with. And so in the end,

Doug Dvorak (44:34.624)
Okay.

Kasey (44:50.183)
ESPN made more sense for me at that time and then it just worked out. you learn, I had some great producers early on, I had some great bosses that kind of guided me in the right direction and it’s been a lot of fun.

Doug Dvorak (45:09.356)
Excellent. One last question before the rapid fire round. Mission possible. What does mission possible mindset mean to you that you’d like to share with our listeners?

Kasey (45:19.746)
Well, I think it’s trying to figure out, first and foremost, I think it’s in the phrase possible. Where, told you, I ran a 4.6840, right? But if my dream was to win the Olympic gold medal in the 100 meter, it was never gonna happen. That was impossible. So I think if you…

instantly put yourself in a position that’s impossible for you to succeed, you’ve already countered whatever you could possibly do. So I think you have to first of all be realistic because whenever I hear somebody say you can do whatever you want, no you can’t. You can do something really cool in life and you can do something that you really enjoy doing and you can be very successful in something, but you can’t do anything you want.

And so I think first and foremost in Mission Possible is find out what’s possible. If you don’t find that out first, then you’re lost before you even get started. Then I think you have to give yourself the best opportunity possible to succeed. If you think that you can do something halfway, if you think you can not be prepared, if you think you can not put

maximum effort in and be as successful as possible, then you’re fooling yourself already and you’ve already failed. So I think the combination, figuring out what’s possible and then giving yourself the best opportunity possible to succeed.

Doug Dvorak (47:00.086)
I love it. Now rapid fire round. Favorite save. What’s the save you’re most proud of?

Kasey (47:07.106)
Favorite save?

Doug Dvorak (47:08.407)
Yep.

Kasey (47:10.062)
There was a triple save against Romario in that 98 game. There was also another one my first season at Rio. We’re playing Barcelona at home and in the 90th minute I saved a penalty from Figo right before we went into the winter break and that was kind of cool.

Doug Dvorak (47:31.722)
Dream team if you could choose one defender and one striker to have on your team who would they be?

Kasey (47:34.197)
geez.

Kasey (47:38.766)
That’s impossible.

Doug Dvorak (47:40.738)
We can skip it.

Kasey (47:42.284)
Yeah, I I was so fortunate to play with so many guys, play with so many friends in different positions, in different areas. It would be a disservice to name one.

Doug Dvorak (47:55.512)
That’s reasonable. Toughest stadium. Which stadium had the most intimidating atmosphere?

Kasey (48:00.911)
Fortunately for me, the toughest stadium is Millwall. Yeah, and luckily Millwall were my fans, my fans, and I had them behind me for four years. yeah, you don’t want to go to the Den. The Den, you’re going to get ground up if you’re not ready for that one.

Doug Dvorak (48:05.858)
Really.

Doug Dvorak (48:19.788)
Okay, goalkeeping hero. Who was your biggest inspiration as a goalkeeper growing up?

Kasey (48:24.044)
My biggest inspiration probably from afar was probably Peter Shilton, the English goalkeeper. And then I had a, and then a little bit of Northern Ireland goalkeeper, Pat Jennings. then I would, I, and Peter Shilton’s from Leicester. So when I played for Leicester, I got to know Peter socially, not close, but you know, close enough. then when I was at Spurs, Pat Jennings came and trained.

was one of the goalkeeping coaches once a week. So to be able to kind of have those relationships with those guys that you saw from afar as a young kid, when you didn’t have a lot of access to soccer back in the day, and then for them to become friends was pretty cool.

Doug Dvorak (49:11.116)
Most underrated skill, what’s the one skill goalkeepers need that fans often overlook?

Kasey (49:15.576)
Well, this is the crazy part, Doug, is there’s this new thing about goalkeeping that they have to be the best player on the field with their feet and try to keep the ball at the back of the net. mean, there’s only one skill in goalkeeping and that’s keep the ball at the back of the net. That’s what your job is. It doesn’t matter how you do it. Just keep it out of the back of the net. Give your team a chance to get results. The rest of this stuff is a joke and I think it’s starting to go full circle.

Look, like anything, I think you work on your weaknesses, but play to your strengths. And the way I play is different from the way some other goalkeeper plays and everything. And if I have a coach that is so single-minded that you play like them, okay, great. Hey, Johnny, you play like Messi. You do that and we’re gonna win every game. Coach, I can’t play like Messi.

Of course you can’t play like Messi because you know we’re near as good as Messi. You play as well as you can and the way you can help us get results. And so, you know, I think that in the end is keep the ball out of the back of the net. That’s your job.

Doug Dvorak (50:25.228)
love it. Best soccer city in your opinion. What’s the best city in the world for soccer?

Kasey (50:30.966)
Impossible, Doug. I’m going to give a bunch of cities. You’re to go from London to Munich to Madrid to Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires to Milan to Rome to… mean, the list goes on and on and on. And I think that’s what’s so cool about this sport is it isn’t just one place. It’s or one country. I mean…

Go to, I know you’re going to spend some time in Mexico City soon. Yeah, go watch a big game at Azteca Stadium. I mean, it’s under construction, so it’s being refurbished for the World Cup for like the third time. when you go to those meccas, you go to, go watch a River Plate match against Boca.

Go watch Rangers Celtic. Go watch…

Tottenham Arsenal or what? mean, it’s you just you just you just there’s no experience like it. And the cool part about it is it’s all over the world. There’s those great matchups all over the world that that every fan, everyone is saying, you know, this is the match. You come to a Millwall West Ham game, you’re like, my God, this is crazy. And so, yeah, it’s it’s it’s pretty impressive.

Doug Dvorak (52:06.138)
Two questions left. Kasey’s bucket list. What’s one thing you still want to achieve either personally or professionally?

Kasey (52:12.462)
I think what I was very, very fortunate to do was, and not many players have that opportunity, is to retire in their own terms. And you never know if you make the right decision until after the fact. And how many players have you seen come back from retirement or?

Doug Dvorak (52:15.276)
or do.

Kasey (52:38.946)
vice versa be like, God, I should have retired last year. And I think that’s kind of the next step. You mentioned that I’d been broadcasting for 12 years and I really enjoy doing it. And I hope that I make the right decision with that as well. That when it’s time to truly retire, that it’s the right time.

Doug Dvorak (53:02.688)
Unlike the Eagles who have retired 13 times. Last question, post game snack, what was your go to meal after a match?

Kasey (53:11.062)
It was really funny as you got, you know, kind of in England or in the early days, you know, it would be like somebody would order from a fish and chip and you’d get a fish and chip or a chicken and chip that would show up, you know, maybe like a pie or something. And then it got to the point where you were on the coaches where you actually had kind of like a waiter and they had different meals that would come. And that was kind of cool. Nothing necessarily specific.

I think it was just, it wasn’t exactly the most healthy. I think it was more just get some calories back in your body and be comfortable and go from there. I mean, in all honesty, Doug, you can’t really beat a good slice of pizza after a match. mean, but the same thing, if it’s chicken fingers, if it’s, I mean, like I said, if it’s a fishy chip, it didn’t really matter. It was just kind of, you know, because at least the older I got,

the kind of the least, the less I ate before matches. And so usually then by the time the match was over, it was kind of nice to eat whatever.

Doug Dvorak (54:21.92)
Excellent. Well, my guest has been Kasey Keller, former professional soccer player and current ESPN commentator. Kasey, thank you for your time. It’s been a high honor and privilege. Always great to have you on a podcast with our Mission Possible community. Check us out at missionpossible.biz. Carpe diem.

Kasey (54:41.944)
Thanks Doug.