The hardest of blows fell like a hammer on the Seattle Sounders on Tuesday. Despite initially making progress in his recovery from an irregular heartbeat diagnosed last month, Clint Dempsey will not be returning this season.
The news comes as a blow to the locker room after word spread that Dempsey’s return to practice earlier this month could augur a comeback before the end of the year. That was always a speculative hope, but there was at least reason to be optimistic.
Sounders GM and President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey said Tuesday he's hopeful Dempsey can return in 2017, but he and the the rest of the Sounders family are now hoping first that Dempsey returns to health, to say nothing of his playing status.