Watch highlights of the Maxim Magazine photo shoot >
At a photo shoot for Maxim Magazine the day after MLS Cup 2005, Clint Dempsey waited on the field at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, for some of his soccer-playing peers to show up to pose for a few group shots.
Dempsey, the 22-year-old New England Revolution midfielder, spoke in front of Maxim's video cameras for more than 10 minutes while he waited, covering topics ranging from the Revolution's MLS Cup defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Galaxy to his budding rap career.
Actually, the discussion of rap and hip-hop music took up most of Dempsey's time in front of the camera. It was an exposition, a history lesson on his influences.
From humble beginnings listening to Vanilla Ice - whom Dempsey now admits is "whack" - and MC Hammer, the Nagocdoches, Texas, native moved on in junior high to Master P and the Underground Kings. He then discovered Houston artists and the "screwed" style, a slowed-down form of rap created by Houston's own DJ Screw on homemade mix tapes and popularized by artists like Paul Wall, Michael Watts and Big Pokey.
Now, Dempsey is making his own music. What started out with making up rhymes in the car because there was no radio has led Dempsey to making a music video for Nike. He goes by the name "Deuce," and though he says it's all just fun and games to him, he sees a correlation between the ever-growing rap business and the blossoming of the sport of soccer in the United States.
Dempsey also recognizes that as soccer further mixes into the world of pop culture, it will continue to grow.
"Soccer's something new," he said. "I think it's really hitting the kids right now. Hip-hop's real big right now, as well, as far as a lot of kids being into it. So it's just another avenue to tap into."
And that's why Dempsey is appearing in Maxim's March 2006 issue. The issue is already available at select newsstands and can be found at newsstands nationwide on Feb. 21.
Dempsey was joined at the Nov. 14 shoot by six of the most marketable MLS stars: then-FC Dallas forward Eddie Johnson, Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan, New England Revolution forward Taylor Twellman, Houston 1836 forward Brian Ching, Galaxy defender Chris Albright and Colorado Rapids defender Pablo Mastroeni.
Decked out almost entirely in white - a big trend for the spring 2006 season - the players posed in groups and alone and juggled and passed the ball while photographer Mark Mann, who includes among his many subjects musicians Usher and Iggy Pop and comedian Dave Chappelle, clicked away. The players will occupy a seven-page spread in the magazine.
The players' appearance in the magazine is part of a growing trend of MLS and U.S. national team players popping up in non-soccer media. It's a concerted effort by the league to occupy a place in pop culture, and it's no coincidence that it's happening in a World Cup year. A similar upswing of attention occurred in 2002, building off the U.S. national team's success in that year's World Cup.
"For us to get in this magazine is big for the league," Twellman said, adding that he wouldn't mind being a professional model when his playing days are over. "We're on our way."
"When you think of Maxim, you think of a progressive brand that has an edge. We are excited about the MLS feature in the latest issue of Maxim magazine," said Douglas Quinn, President of Soccer United Marketing Enterprises. "It is a reflection of how soccer has become an important part of popular culture in America. Especially in this World Cup year, you will continue to see our guys cross over into the mainstream."
To a man, the players at the shoot consider their appearance in Maxim - and any soccer player's appearance in the mainstream media - to be a positive thing.
According to Albright, one photo shoot may not be the event that puts the league over the top, but it's certainly a step in that direction.
"MLS needs to be doing more of this stuff, so it's good that they're getting started with it," he said. "[Soccer] is still fairly young here. MLS is only 10 years old. You look at the other major sports and how old they are, I think we obviously still have a long ways to go. But stadiums like this [recently-opened Pizza Hut Park] and good publicity like this Maxim shoot are promoting the game how we need it to be promoted."
The benefits of the shoot aren't only in favor of MLS. According to Maxim Fashion Editor Maria Ruocco, the soccer market is an important one for Maxim to tap in to as the World Cup approaches.
"We figured that we wanted to do a soccer story to begin with, and what better way than to feature real soccer players," Ruocco said. "It's definitely the biggest sport in the world. For us, it was great with the World Cup coming up this year and soccer becoming a little bit more mainstream. It helps us because this is what our guys like. Our guy is the everyday guy."
Albright said in terms of marketability, soccer players may have a leg up on other athletes because they're more like the average person and fans can identify with them.
"Soccer players are kind of 'normal' in a marketing sense," he said. "They're not big football players or big brawny baseball players, and I think they're just kind of mainstream type of guys that I think should be getting in more magazines and on more television."
Jason Halpin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
