I have stood within 3-feet of David Beckham on two separate occasions.
The first was in 2008, two days before the MLS All-Star game in Toronto. I had been riding my bicycle around BMO Field the afternoon prior to the TFC v Montreal Impact Voyageurs Cup decider, which would take place that evening. As I rode around the corner, I saw a bus pull up to the stadium. Thinking it was the Impact, and this being before I had launched The 24th Minute (and thus didn’t have to pretend to be at least somewhat objective), I quickly road to the bus in the hopes that I could give the USL side the gears ahead of that night’s game.
Imagine my surprise then when two giant men leapt in front of my bike, one of which firmly putting his hands on my chest. It was clear that both would look forward to picking my teeth up off the ground if I made one wrong move.
Confused I looked at the players stepping off the bus. There, with a half raised eyebrow and bored look on his face, stood one of the most famous men on the planet. Suddenly, the attention of Johnny and Joey Andro made sense.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Trying to appear above it all, I spat out “I’m here to see Mauro Biello, not him,” before slowly backing away.
Of course I wasn’t above it all. I offer no apologies when I tell you that I ran straight to the pre-game bar to tell everyone that was willing to listen that I came within feet of Becks.
The second time I stood close to his fame was in 2011. This time, I was there in an official capacity as a writer for MLSSoccer.com. I spent most of the time leading up to the press conference text messaging with a girl who I may or may not have been trying to impress by telling her where I was and what I was doing (I’ll allow you the reader to decide whether I was successful).
In a moment that will surprise few people that know me, I was also nearly tackled by security that day when I tried to crash the LA Galaxy’s breakfast buffet.
By the time Beckham made his appearance there were close to 100 journalists stuffed into a tiny room desperately trying to shove their microphones and tape recorders into his face. I don’t actually recall much of what he said (I do, however, remember that he had a 2-week beard growing and was wearing a Galaxy toque, despite it being a billion degrees outside).
I also recall the reporter for E! asking him a question about a Pepsi commercial he was in and how the Galaxy PR staff swooped in and chastised the women for doing her job (Only soccer questions was the demand placed on us for being allowed to be in the presence of celebrity). Beckham, for his part, smiled and answered the question without much concern. The only thing hurt in the exchange was the reputation of the flack, who looked like a humourless bully.
Although I didn’t think much of it at the time, Beckham did say in the scrum that he was “thinking of” staying with the Galaxy for another contract (he did). I wrote what he said and didn’t think anything of it until later that night when my editor wrote me to tell me that the piece had received more than half a million pageviews. Apparently this was a scoop.
What was also apparent, and what is illustrated by all of the above anecdotes, is that Beckham was never just about football. This isn’t a revelation, but it bears repeating here. Beckahm’s celebrity was so large that it reached every corner of the globe, even a (football) outpost like Toronto.
So, his retirement is news. Even here. His affect of the game is measurable even in Canada.
Yes, he was overrated as a player, even in his prime. That’s not to say that he was a bad player. It’s not even to suggest that he wasn’t very good at times. It’s only to point out the obvious fact that he was never close to being the best in the world and that his celebrity did not match his performance.
To keep the analogies local: On the pitch he was Doug Gilmour. Off the pitch, Justin Bieber.
Love him or hate him you could not ignore him. And, even if you don’t want to admit it, you’re probably going to miss him.