TORONTO – Handcuffed in the back of an SUV and driven four states away from his home and family, the furthest thing from Wells Thompson’s mind when he was 14 was hoisting an MLS Cup.
In fact, the idea that Thompson is in the league’s title game with the Rapids is a minor miracle in itself. Few can survive the past he suffered through and still reach the pinnacle of their profession.
Thompson admits that he was a troublemaker as a teenager in his hometown of Winston-Salem, N.C., a far cry from the squeaky clean professional he is now. He frequently ran away from home, indulged in drugs and alcohol, and one time stole the car and credit card of his best friend’s dad and headed with his buddy to Atlanta without telling anyone.
“I say I was either going to wind up dead or in jail and that was the truth,” Thompson said. “I was going nowhere.”
Thompson’s parents stepped in after the Atlanta episode, tricking him into returning to North Carolina under the guise they would help him get his learner’s permit. The night he returned home, his sleep was interrupted when his mom and dad knocked on the door.
[inlinenode:318853]“They came in and said, ‘We love you, son, but you’re going away for a while,’” Thompson said.
Two large men forced a screaming Thompson out of bed. They wrestled, handcuffed and escorted him to the back of a black SUV. Ten hours later, the troubled teen found himself at the Family Foundation School, a rehabilitation program in the Catskill Mountains in New York. He couldn’t speak to his family for an entire month.
An Inspirational Moment
Usually at the age of 14, future pro soccer players are on the road with travel clubs, Olympic Development or national teams, hoping to make their dreams a reality. Thompson spent the next year and a half just hoping to survive and bring order to his life.
When he returned home to North Carolina, he completed a double senior year of high school.
“Some people,” Thompson said, "take longer to learn things.”
Although he never lost his love for the game, there certainly weren’t any college recruitment letters coming in the mail. But luckily for Thompson, he knew Wake Forest Jay Vidovich, and worked out a deal where although he wasn’t guaranteed a spot, he could try and walk on at the ACC powerhouse.
“I think it was more as a favor to me as a person and to my family,” Thompson said. “[Wake Forest] told me they didn’t think I’d play, but I ended up starting as a freshman.”
Thompson occasionally slipped back into the addictions that forced him into rehab in the first place, he admits that. But he underwent a formative experience during his junior year at Wake Forest, when he joined some friends on a humanitarian mission to the Dominican Republic instead of traveling to Mexico to party on spring break.
Working with the poor, Thompson discovered his religious faith, and he’s been a changed person ever since. His soccer fortunes turned around as well, culminating at the 2007 MLS SuperDraft in Indianapolis. His Wake Forest head coach suggested that he be there.
[inlinenode:323806]“We felt like the Beverly Hillbillies,” Thompson said. “Everyone knew everyone else because they were on the national scene and the regional scene and we didn’t know anybody. We walk into the room and my dad picks the front row. The only thing I’m thinking is that we’re going to sit here and no one is going to pick me.”
The New England Revolution traded up and selected Thompson with the fifth overall selection. He was in disbelief.
“I was just trying not to trip going up the stairs to shake the hand of the Commissioner,” he said.
Success and Retribution
Now in the second MLS Cup final of his career, Thompson is in demand by Christian radio stations to tell his story of how he didn’t let immaturity, poor decisions, bad company and a family history of alcoholism ruin his life.
“I grew up in a Christian home, but there’s a big difference between having your parents impress it upon you and having a personal relationship,” Thompson said. “That’s the most important thing to me in my life now. I try to live that way and I try to represent God.”
His parents will be in the stands at BMO Field on Sunday, and Thompson is eager to make up for the hurt they suffered when he was a teenager still looking to find his way. He’s also eager to one day marry his current girlfriend, another stepping stone on his way to a life turned around and when he needed inspiration the most.
But even before he buys a ring for future wife, he hopes to win one in Toronto.
