Soccer star Alexi Lalas on his love of guitar: "I’d always considered myself a performer, as an athlete and a musician"

It’s often said that most professional athletes want to be musicians and most musicians want to be professional athletes. That’s essentially the premise of the annual Celebrity Game at NBA All-Star weekend, for example.

Of course, both vocations share an idea of performance and audience adoration. Though even when you’re at the top of your game, the grass can always seem greener elsewhere. But what about those rare folks who are both professional athlete and musician? Can such a thing even exist?

Soccer player Alexi Lalas has felt the hot lights of the World Cup and the Olympics. The defender, who grew up in Detroit, Michigan and attended Rutgers University in New Jersey, was a breakout star in the 1994 World Cup with his long hair and red beard. Later, Lalas played abroad in a prestigious Italian league before starring in the MLS.

Every step of the way, though, he carried a guitar with him. The instrument, he says, helped with personal and creative expression in times of transition and it acted as a social icebreaker.