By RYAN TOLMICH
Just nine words into his open letter, U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder Stuart Holden made his intentions very clear: retirement is not an option.
The 29-year-old midfielder, who has been battling injuries for a majority of the past four seasons, reiterated his desire to battle back from his ailments in an open letter released on ESPN on Friday.
“Of course, I am constantly being asked about my future by fans, friends, teammates and coaches. My answer is: I need time,” Holden said. “Time to heal, time to work hard, time to prepare, and time for a comeback of epic proportions. I will continue to tackle this challenge with great fortitude and I can’t wait to prove to all of you, but mostly myself, that this is possible!
“I thank all of my supporters for their continued inspiration and motivation, because without you I wouldn’t be where I am. Stay tuned, because this isn’t over yet.”
Check out a video of Holden discussing his return after the jump:
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What do you think of Holden’s post? What do you expect to see from Holden in the future?
Share your thoughts below.
This is just sad. Sorry Stu. What could have been, yes…
It’s time we all move on. His career has been over for at least a year now. He seems like a great guy and hopefully he’ll realize soon that his commentary/analysis work is not temporary but his new career.
JOB 2.0 will never be a major part of the nats again
Well congratulations on betting on the Yankees. An insightful take about a guy who has had his leg wrecked four times and is 29 years old to say he won’t be a “major part” of the nats again. You should predict earthquakes and Kardashian marriages.
we installed new radar over at USMNT HQ and so fare Stu hasn’t been picked up on any of our equiptment
Ives,
I’m not putting up with your auto-playing ads. I want to have passive ads display on my screen because I love this site, but the auto-playing video ads must go immediately.
Back on the 100% block list until this changes. I really want to allow ads, but this is too invasive and uncalled for.
Install Ghostery and deselect the advertising. You have to leave stat counter and gravatar on in order to make comments (and I must have the thing that remembers my name turned off, if I figure out which it is…)
Google Chrome and ad Block as well. Though, I completely agree with your sentiment.
It directly caused me to come on SBI less frequently than I used to.
Well apparently you are not allowed to discuss solutions to the mess or it gets moderated. Listen to the others.
Simple solution, Ives? Hire a new web guy. I can give you 10 guys who could solve it for less than 200 bucks. Stop crashing people’s browsers. It’s embarrassing to an otherwise great site.
Alwsys a huge favorite. Turned out he was still injured in 2010 along with CD and Gooch right up the spine. Nothing to do with lack of foresight by Bradley even tho Stu got the callup
If Charlie Davies can make a comeback there is no reason Stu can’t do the same. The odds are stacked against him but that just may be the motivation he needs. Stu has my 100% support. I hope to see him on the pitch in 6-8 months time.
No two injuries or body structures are a like. Apples to oranges.
Wouldn’t this just be “apples to apples” then, seeing that no two apples are exactly alike?
CD is not the same old cd. CD will never be on the nats again so he really didn’t make a comeback IMO. Went from special player to MLS bench fodder
Davies went from should have died to being a professional soccer player again.
A miracle under the circumstances.
“MLS bench fodder” beats being dead or permanently disabled; but I guess you don’t think so.
Certainly it’s amazing he’s alive and made it back. But the OP mmv referred to CD making a “comeback”, and I agree with Mike that he made no such comeback. He’s not the player he was before the accident.
I hope it works for him but I also dont think his knees will take it. Even if they did, I think any hope of returning to the NATs is a very, very long shot at this point. The team has moved way beyond Stu I think
“The team has moved way beyond Stu I think”
If Stu miraculously got back to his best, he’d start for the USMNT.
+1 Nobody out here is saying he’ll get back to that level, but GW is dead right…. we haven’t moved past the level he was playing at in CM. Not by a long shot.
Great letter.
(Given the circumstances, I really don’t like seeing him in a gambling company shirt though.)
he cant help who Bolton sells their shirt sponsorships to
And my comment somehow implied that he was responsible? No. I simply noted the unpleasant circumstantial irony.
Good thing it wasn’t Carlsberg, Tecate, or Coors. Bring back prohibition I say!
Those don’t have anything to do with it.
Good luck to Holden. He’s got more heart than most every player out there.
Love this dude!!! Such a good guy, I think everyone is pulling for him.
While the odds are against him, he is so deserving and you feel like if anyone can do it Stu can. Good luck and keep your optimism.
Stu could have been that bridge from Donovan to the next generation…he is earnest, photogenic, and can handle himself in front of a mic. However, DeJong and Evans-related tackles knocked back such a promising career.
Hard to imagine someone not pulling for him, and hope all the commitment and hard work pays off!
Stu should never have gone into that tackle with Evans.
Evans and DeJong both got him with the bottom of their feet. Both were thug moves. I think that if a player is injured by the bottom of your feet in a tackle, you can’t play again until they can.
keep fighting Stu! many years from now when he actually does retire I hope he goes into coaching. hes got a great drive and awareness that would be invaluable as a coach.
When something you love — and have worked so incredibly hard for your entire life — is repeatedly taken away from you, it’s disheartening, devastating.
I know this is a “kids game”, but I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.
What a tough, tough dude. If he won’t give up the dream, I won’t give up on him. Looking forward to seeing him play again.
What is this now, four ACL tears? I know there were those two DeJong/Evans tackles, and he went down in the Gold Cup, and then again in March.
Glad he’s not done psychologically…but wow. That’s just insane.
I thought it was two because DeJong broke his leg not ACL
Read the first half of the headline — expected to read “Announces Retirement” — didn’t —so relieved. Come on Stu!
Same here. I wish Bob had the foresight to play him and Bradley together in 2010, even if he wasn’t 100%.
Players like him and JOB hurt us a lot more than some because of our limited pool of international-level players.
What could have been…
Bob did start him in our 1st game against england.
Yeah Yeah — no, no he didn’t. Holden played just a few minutes against England.
Holden played six minutes at the end of the England game.
Holden, a healthy Gooch, Jones, and Davies. Oh man oh man. The places we could have gone.