Cameron's friend and former Houston Dynamo teammate, Calen Carr, recently caught up with the 28-year-old soccer star.
I saw Geoff in San Francisco a few weeks ago, while he and the United States national team were in town preparing for their World Cup opener against Ghana's "Black Stars." Geoff and his teammate Alejandro Bedoya wanted to see the sights of SF during an afternoon off from grueling double-day training sessions, so they drove up from their camp’s base at Stanford University, alongside Austin Cary Rhodes and Josh Leon of Nike. We decided to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and head to the Marin Headlands, and were fortunate to find ourselves in one of those fleeting moments without the customary layer of fog blocking our view.
Having been friends as well as former teammates in Houston, it was great to meet Geoff by my hometown, just as he had welcomed me to his family's place for home-cooked meals during away trips to New England. To see his ascension to the heights of the EPL—and now stepping out onto the sport’s biggest stage—has been nothing short of inspiring. Here, Geoff took a rare moment to chat with me on the phone from Brazil, sharing his story of what it will mean to walk out of that tunnel, wearing not only the badge of his country, but the ink of his family crest, as well.
CALEN CARR: Do you have a favorite World Cup memory as a kid? What is it like to be there now, as a player?
GEOFF CAMERON: It would definitely be 1994, Foxborough Stadium. My dad brought me to see Argentina play against Greece. I remember watching the whole game, but being more focused on [Diego] Maradona. He was one of those players you couldn’t take your eyes off, and I remember he scored that day. It’s surreal being here in Brazil now. I remember telling my dad that I wanted to represent my country, to be in a World Cup, and to play professionally. This is a dream come true.”
You see players from every country with tattoos now, but you've taken a really personal approach. Where did you get them done? And who did the work?
I had them all done by a friend, a tattoo artist named Chris Evans who’s based in and around Boston and the Providence area in Rhode Island. I grew up in Attleboro, MA, so I've usually had the work done when I’ve been back home during breaks from playing. I started getting them in 2011, so it’s been a long process where it had to be done piece by piece because of my schedule. I wasn’t in any real rush to do it though, and made sure they were all something that have meaning behind them.
Can you talk a little bit about the detail of what they mean and what they represent to you?
On the inside of my arm is my family crest—Clan Cameron—originally of Scottish heritage. The words, “Aonaibh Ri Cheile,” are written inside the buckled circle of the crest, on the inside of my left bicep. It translates to, “Let Us Unite.” On the other side, I have St. Christopher, the patron saint of travel. The sport has taken me so many places since growing up in Attleboro—from Houston and now Europe for Stoke City—and all over the globe for the national team. The tattoo is a way to signify that journey and to keep me safe.
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