When asked, Pulisic can’t pinpoint the specific day or month, but he can get pretty close.
The first time he looked around and realized everything had changed forever was early on at Borussia Dortmund and in his USMNT career. He knew, even then as a teenager, that his life was going to be different, even as far as American soccer stars go.
“At the time, it’s like so cool,” he says of his initial taste of fame. “You’re just a kid. You’re like, ‘Wow, this is everything I dreamed of’, but then there are tough things that come with it, for sure.”
It was a strange feeling to accept. Unlike most, Pulisic never persued the celebrity aspect of this sport. Fame, expectations, debates and discussions sought him out, and very quickly, it became clear that there was no avoiding them. Throughout the years, people close to him have said he’d be just as happy playing soccer in front of no one as long as he got to compete. As you get to know Pulisic, it’s hard not to believe them.
That wasn’t his path, though. Soccer is not a sport to be played in front of no one; it’s a sport played in front of the world. As he began his career as a shy, introverted teenager from Hershey, Pennsylvania, Pulisic accepted that he was going to be tested by that fact. He also became aware that, as the face of a new generation of American stars, he would be tested in ways few of his predecessors or peers ever would.
Merely accepting that fact was the first of his tests, doing so somewhat begrudgingly. In the decade or so since, the 27-year-old American star hasn’t fallen any more in love with that reality. He has gotten better at navigating it, though, which is why he’s still here all these years later and not one of those ‘what-if’ cases so often crippled by the weight of it all.
“It doesn’t seem normal, but I guess, in some ways, it’s become the norm for me,” he says. “When you have all these amazing events and opportunities and you get to play representing your national team in these big tournaments, all this stuff is going to be around. I think I would say I’ve gotten used to it, absolutely, and I try to do my best to deal with it, but there are constant things I’m dealing with. There are struggles that I have, just like everyone does, for sure.
“I still learn how to deal with these things today, but, again, I wouldn’t change it for the world. I feel like I’ve always wanted this, so if this is what it means, that there’s extra pressure, extra attention, then that’s great, because this is exactly where I want to be.”
Pulisic didn’t get here alone, he says. He’s relied heavily on his support system, headlined by his family and friends, but also by his teammates. For years, Pulisic has been depicted as the key piece in the USMNT puzzle, but he’s well aware of the importance of the pieces around him. Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams, two longtime friends, are, for example, far more open to the spotlight, and they’ve often been willing to take it off Pulisic in the moments he’s needed it.
“I’m also just figuring it out, just like all of us,” he says. “These are all new experiences for me. Obviously, I’ve gotten better at it throughout time, that’s for sure. I’ve played in and experienced similar things, but we still go through things, and for me, when times get tough, it’s just calls with my family, having people help me through it, because I don’t have to do this alone. It’s talking with my teammates and coaches and dealing with it all together.”
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