Born into a modest household in East Central Texas, Dempsey's game is the combined product of the dirt lots of Nacogdoches, his career at one of the most powerful youth soccer clubs in the nation (Dallas Texans), and the huge family effort that made it possible. After being noticed by the Texans while juggling on the sidelines of his brother's try out, his parents drove the six hours round trip to Dallas and back up to three times a week, so Dempsey could play with the team.
"When you have your parents around, you realize how far you've come. They were the ones with me on all those long drives to Dallas."
After a successful career with the Texans, Dempsey attended Furman College in South Carolina for three years. He left college to turn pro in 2004 and scored an impressive 25 goals in his three years with the New England Revolution.
"There have been a lot of transitions along the way. In college it was being away from my family. And then in the MLS it was realizing that if you're not doing what's required of you, you can be replaced. It's about survival of the fittest. You want to spend your life doing something you love and not working nine to five."
Dempsey attracted international interest after his strong showing in the 2006 World Cup, most notably as he tallied the only USA goal in a hard fought contest against Ghana with a clinical outside of the foot strike. In January of 2007, Fulham FC, London's oldest football club, purchased his rights form the New England Revolution for over £2 million.
In only his third appearance with Fulham's first team, Dempsey scored a game-winning goal against Liverpool that guaranteed the club another year in the English Premier League. The goal, valued at over £30 million and touted as "the most valuable goal in Craven Cottage history," served notice to fans in the UK that Dempsey was not intimidated by his new surroundings.
"You go anywhere, you adapt. When you're playing against better players and the speed of play is quicker, you have to adapt to it. Throughout my career adapting has never been too much of a problem because I've always wanted to get better. That drives me to adjust quicker so that I can make sure I keep playing."
Dempsey entered this season with high expectations. After Fulham's captain and lead scorer Brian McBride was injured in the first month of the season, Dempsey assumed the burden of filling in for him as a forward. While many goal scorers-most famously Andriy Shevchenko-have struggled to adjust to the speed of the English game in their first seasons, Dempsey has scored six goals already.
"It's a different style of play. The speed of the game is a lot quicker over here and it's just going to take learning from errors-trial and error-trying to find ways to make space for yourself because there's not much in this league. It's difficult up top because the service you get is 50/50 balls in the air and when you get it at your feet you have someone right up your back."
Dempsey made his mark in the MLS as an attacking midfielder particularly adept at taking defensive players off the dribble, but he has been asked to fill a different role thus far this season at Fulham.
"I miss having the ball at my feet running at people. Hopefully in time, I'll be able to figure out how to do more of the things I want to do to try to help the team. Scoring goals is what I enjoy most about the game, but right now my only focus is trying to keep the team up."
Dempsey has joined two other Americans, the aforementioned McBride and US National Team captain Carlos Bocanegra, at Fulham FC, and a third, Kasey Keller, joined the club on temporary basis this year. The situation is remarkable when one considers that there was no professional soccer league in the United States after the NASL folded in 1984. American-born soccer players did not have the opportunity to emulate sporting icons by following them into the media spotlight.
"To be honest I really didn't look at many American athletes to model myself after. I modeled myself after Diego Maradona and Carlos Valderrama, South American players, and their style. I was aware of players we had who were successful, like Tab Ramos, but I modeled myself after Maradona."
Like David Beckham, Dempsey wears number 23, but he is clear about the inspiration for his jersey number.
"I looked up to Michael Jordan because he was a winner. I was always real competitive and I wanted to be the best at what I did. As far as looking at soccer and what the future held, all I knew was that soccer is what I loved to do. If I didn't go pro I would have gotten a job and played pickup. Soccer wouldn't have ended."
Dempsey's love for the game comes through in the way he plays. He is the first American player to regularly impose his will on defenders with the kind of step-overs and heel flicks popularized by the likes of Ronaldinho and Cristiano Ronaldo. Nicknamed "Deuce", Dempsey has become the first American soccer player to be worshipped as a "baller" or hip hop hero, and since the Nike ad "Don't Tread"-a hip hop homage to Eminem's 8 Mile that features a young Deuce shredding in a trailer park-he has become a new kind of poster boy for the American game. Dempsey downplays the impact of hip hop on is career but acknowledges that it is the music that gets him most ready to compete.
"Growing up I listened to everything. I listened to Incubus, Creed, Enya, Radiohead, all types of stuff. Everything you can think of. When I was making the trips to Dallas, I listened to what my family was listening to. The reason the hip hop comes across-I got into it in 8th grade with Master P-is that when I went to games I would listen to it to pump me up, to get crunk or whatever. But I like all types of music."
Dempsey says the cultural transition to life in England has come with challenges but his American teammates and the presence of his new wife have made life enjoyable.
"It's nice having Bethany around more, because we had to do the long distance thing for a while. Brian and Carlos are really good guys and they have helped me fit in. I like London. The only negative is that it's so expensive, but when you wire money back to the States you double what you're making, so that's awesome."
While Dempsey has been in excellent form lately-he is a top ten rated fantasy league midfielder-Fulham has struggled. Having won only two games all season, the club sacked manager Lawrie Sanchez just before Christmas. Dempsey insists the attitude in the changing room is positive as new skipper Roy Hodgson takes the reins.
"It's always refreshing when you get a new start. Everybody's hungry and wants to show that they belong on the field. All we can do is keep working hard and try to take care of business. We've only won two games and we'll have to do a lot better than that in the second half of the season."
The schedule in England during the holidays is brutal but Dempsey has enjoyed excellent fitness so far in his career and seems to be holding up well.
"I feel good. The thing that helps me is taking ice baths. I feel like it gives me my legs back. The positive part about the busy schedule is that there's always a game for us to try and change the situation we're in."
Having been named US Men's Player of the Year in 2007 by the fans and media, Dempsey says he will have no trouble keeping a level head.
"I always try to have the same attitude. I'm a competitive person and I just try to keep my ears open and do what the coach asks of me. I keep my ears open and my mouth closed and I try to make the team better."
In the United States, professional soccer still has not had the impact promised by the massive participation in the sport at the youth level. But the emerging generation of youth players has, for the first time, seasoned professionals, American born and bred, to emulate and the lure of professional contracts to motivate them. For Clint Dempsey, soccer has always been much more than a job; it's a source of happiness.
"I want to be known as someone who loved the game and gave their heart to the game. I knew I was going to do that with my life. For some reason soccer has been something I've always connected with, and, to me, it made life better. Everyone wants to be as happy as they can be-you only have one life-and I'm just happy having soccer in my life."
Clint Dempsey is newly married, he has scored more goals this season than Wayne Rooney, and if his form holds, he stands to become America's newest soccer millionaire, but for all of his recent success he has not forgotten his humble beginnings.