Jeff Cunningham remembers the thrill that came with a soccer ball placed at his feet.
How couldn't he? From his beginning in Montego Bay, Jamaica, a soccer ball has shaped his standing in life.
"The only memory I have of my father is of him giving me a ball," TFC's star striker says. "I was three years old and that ball quickly became the neighborhood ball. Owning that ball meant that if boys fouled me or didn't pick for their team, I would pick up the ball and go home."
It would never really change. Cunningham and his four siblings would be raised by their mother, Deloris, with no father.
"My Mom had to hustle. She had a little shop in the market where she sold clothes," he says of his upbringing. "I came from a very humble background and I know what it means to live your life on what some people would call the other side of the tracks. But there were a lot of quality, wonderful people, as well."
When he had a soccer ball at his feet, the game rotated around him.
Soccer would take Cunningham to American when he was 14. He later earned a scholarship to the University of South Florida and embarked on a 10-year career in MLS, first with Columbus for seven productive seasons, then one in Colorado, one and a bit with Real Salt Lake and now, TFC.
When he arrived in Toronto in May in exchange for Alecko Eskandarian and a first round draft pick, Cunningham chose number 93, the number of goals he lugged north. He sits fourth overall in league history behind the retired Jason Kreis, Jaime Moreno of D.C. United (both at 108) and Ante Razov (102). Cunningham might overtake them; he has two goals in four matches with TFC and is 30 years old. Razov is 33, Moreno 32.
There seems little doubt he has lots left. Paired with bruising striker Danny Dichio, Cunningham is a quicksilver figure, always ready to stretch or even snap a defence.
"He's the fastest player in the league," said TFC coach Mo Johnston. "Maybe you put (Kansas City striker) Eddie Johnson there with him but those two are definitely the fastest."
The hunger to score is undiluted by the years.
After scoring once in a 4-0 win over Dallas, Cunningham felt compelled to apologize to Johnston. "He said he should have had three," the Toronto coach said.
"I don't think I'm elite goalscorer, at least as much as I would like," Cunningham said. "I have a passion to score and I have expectations of myself greater than what others hold for me."
It comes down to will.
"Hunger means a determination to make it out of somewhere. You make it through discipline, sacrifice and drive," Cunningham said. "I've seen a lot of players who were more talented than I was who don't make it. When you come from nothing, you have motivation."
"I really like having him around," said Johnston. "He's very thorough. He's come in and sat down with our players and gone over the videos with them."
"I think one of the reasons I've been able stay in the league is that I study the defenders," Cunningham said. "I've been in the league so long, the players know my tendencies, but I don't know all of theirs. That's why I use video. I'm not as fast as I was when I was 23 but I'm a much smarter player. A lot of times, experience wins out over youth and natural athleticism."
Cunningham has helped set up Deloris with a house in Florida. Separated by a border, they are nonetheless inexorably linked.
"If it weren't for her, I would have given up on myself and on soccer," said Cunningham. "With the struggles she went through, it wouldn't have been fair not to have done my best all the time."
