Tourette’s Syndrome

Tim Howard, the stellar gringo who stars as goalkeeper for Everton (and before that one of the most valuable sports clubs on the planet, Manchester United - more than the NY Yankees), has been toughing it out lately through the Carling Cup.

Before too much more, a bit of background:

Tim Howard factfile

Name: Tim Howard

DOB: 03/06/1979

Howard became the first American to collect an FA Cup winners medal in 2004, when he kept out Tim Cahill’s Millwall during Manchester United’s 3-0 win.

Tim is married to Laura. They have two children.

A member of the US team at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Tim was understudy to Brad Friedel.

Howard was born in North Brunswick, New Jersey, USA to Matthew Howard, an African-American, and Esther Howard, a Hungarian. His parents divorced when he was three years old.

At high school Howard was as much a basketball star as he was a soccer star, averaging 15 points per game and taking his team to the state finals in his senior year.

Howard has Tourette’s syndrome and was named MLS Humanitarian of the Year in 2001 for his work with children with Tourette’s.

A committed Christian, he has been involved with Athletes in Action, a ministry arm of Campus Crusade for Christ.

And now, in his career, he’s become professionally reflective, which is what we should all do - TS aside, it does not define us - we do. 

“If I’m being honest, I don’t look at stats, whether they are good or bad,” said Howard. “The last few years, it has been brought to my attention that I was one clean sheet away from equalling Neville Southall’s (Premier League) record.

“Those things don’t bother me. My biggest issue is that the performances are right and that we win games. When you do that, you take the onus off everything else and things snowball in the right direction for you. It comes together naturally.

“We click as a unit at the back, we start to win games and everyone is happy. So am I banging my head against the wall at the minute? Of course. I’m frustrated that we as a whole are not winning games. That is hard to take.”

What is truly admirable is that his neurological disorder, his team - he holds no one accountable but himself. Sure, as any team sports player knows, no one wins a game, the team wins. Still, his underlying theme is that we win as a team, we lose as an individual. As they say, courage is defined by being scared … and acting anyway. 

A hall of famer in my book.