Garth Lagerwey had a front-row seat for the Freddy Adu unveiling. Literally. Back in 2004, Lagerwey was working for D.C. United's broadcast team. He was one of the many people shoving a microphone into the 14-year-old's face, asking him what it was like to become the poster child for a league that was still very much finding its way.
Lagerwey saw how Adu was paraded in front of late-night talk show audiences, featured in national commercials, had Pele working as his hype-man and even dated a singer.
While those early years aren't quite the disaster we tend to remember them as -- 11 goals and 18 assists before you turn 18 is hardly bad -- it didn't stop Adu from becoming the poster-child for something entirely different: A player being crushed by expectations.