Yes John Brooks Is German. No He's Never Lived In America. And No I Don't Care
NY Post – With one well-timed leap, John Brooks jumped up from an anonymous reserve defender on the going-nowhere US roster to the most buzzed-over name on a team that suddenly has a chance to advance to the next round of the World Cup. Brooks, who entered Monday’s match as a substitute at halftime, pounded in a header in the 86th minute for the go-ahead goal in the 2-1 victory over Ghana. As the camera pulled in on Brooks, in seeming disbelief over his dramatic strike, US soccer fans — from the tried-and-true to the newly minted — were asking: Who is this guy? Here are 10 things to know about America’s new soccer hero:
• John Anthony Brooks Jr., 21, was born and raised in Berlin, the son of an American serviceman father and a German mother. He has never lived in the United States.
• Brooks was eligible to play for the US or the German national teams, but has said it was an easy choice. He is one of five US-German dual nationals wearing the red, white and blue. “The US really wanted me, so it was not a hard decision to play for the USA,” Brooks said last year. “I talked a lot to my family. … Since I decided to play for the US, they have been very happy, congratulating me and wishing good luck.”
• Brooks has a tattoo on each elbow: Germany on one and Illinois on the other (his father is from Chicago).
I suspect nobody really cares right now that John Brooks is basically just a German dude. And thats probably because he just gave us a game winning goal on the biggest stage in soccer. Nobody has a problem with the guy who just played hero. But I’ve seen some articles and heard some whispers about how its kinda suspect that John Brooks plays for Team USA. Not necessarily in a negative tone, because like I said, right now, you’re not gonna hear anything negative about Team USA or their players. But even if John Brooks hadn’t just scored a game winner and Team USA hadn’t beat Ghana, I still wouldn’t care that John Brooks is German.
Now I admit, it sounds completely ridiculous that a man who has never lived in America is playing for the United States. And yea of course I wish he was a good old American boy. I wish he was a fucking cowboy from Texas or something like that. If I could transform Trent into a World Cup soccer player with John Brooks’ talent and swap him out for a German dude, I’d send that corn loving Iowan right to Brazil. But John Brooks is what America is all about. We’re the melting pot, motherfuckers. You know how many German people immigrated here to do awesome shit for this country? Thats what this whole country is based on. Land of the Free Home of the Brave and the best damn place on earth to succeed. John Brooks was given the choice to play for Germany or America and he chose us. And thats good enough for me. He’s got a tattoo of Illinois on his body for fucks sake. Any of you guys got a tattoo representing America? I know I don’t. Guy has permanent ink repping this country and I’m sure his father from Chicago has instilled in him how awesome this country is. So I’m down with John Brooks more than ever right now. Could have played for one of the best teams in the world in Germany and wanted America. Freedom baby. Thats what we are.
PS – Also I have such minimal bandwagon interest in soccer that I’d be an absolute dick to start to nitpick who represents us. Like if there’s anyone out there who has a problem with it – which I suspect there isn’t because we’re winning – they better be a diehard soccer fans with real reasons why players need to be born and bred here. Because the rest of us fairweather fans shouldn’t get to do that.