As an African American soccer player growing up in the South a generation ago, Eddie Pope didn’t have many role models to look up to.
“The first black player I saw was Pele on a videotape,” he said. “You definitely notice that you’re the only one. I had people saying the N word and things of that nature.”
Cobi Jones had a similar experience, without the epithet, 2,400 miles away on the Ventura County border.
“I didn’t see anybody that really looked like me,” said Jones who, like Pope, went on to play in three World Cups before they were inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame together in 2011.