No, this headline is not sensationalist. Not one bit. Javier Hernandez, better known by his nickname of Chicharito, provided an absolutely transcendent media opportunity yesterday, ahead of Saturday’s match between his LA Galaxy and the Chicago Fire. During the media Zoom call, Hernandez waxed poetic about money, fame, how human beings value their worth, why we’re here, what’s it all about and so much more.
In other words, it was a slightly interesting press call. Maybe the best part was when, at the end of his three and a half minute soliloquy, he said: “Sorry I went [long], but I love this subject, as you can see. Obviously the weekend is very important, but obviously life has more meaning than just coming here and scoring goals.”
Not everyday you jump on a media zoom with a #ManchesterUnited club legend, and Mexico’s all-time leading scorer.
And during the call he gives a 7 minute monologue about $, fame and the valuation metrics of human life. (Next pod topic @stueyissickofit)#GGMU #ElTri #cf97 #cffc pic.twitter.com/9UYNY87wlt— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) April 13, 2022
Indeed, football/futbol/soccer is just a game, it’s the game of life that truly matters. So let’s jump right in to Chicharito being asked about how he deals with the pressure and expectations that come along with being Chicharito, the Mexican National Team’s all-time leading scorer.
“I think around three years ago, I think that situation completely [changed] –I had a mindset before, and I’m going to speak about the one that I’m in right now. It’s just being me. You know something, and people [are] not going to believe, I ask for myself way more than people ask about me,” he answered.
“So I don’t have any pressure, I don’t have nothing. It’s just sound and energy that I try to manipulate in a very positive way in my favor to transform it into anything I want. If I want to transform it in fear, in pressure, in doubt, that’s going to happen. Or it could be motivation, it could be gratefulness, it could be just a confirmation that I’m giving my best every single day. Honestly, man, I don’t feel as a celebrity.
“I always speak about that. It’s like money, fame, and other stuff are just tools in this life, and every single tool sometimes is going to help you, sometimes is going to bring you more obstacles and more situations. People think that, when you get famous and you get money, your life is so fun. They don’t know that we’re all humans and we all have our questions and we all have our problems and we all need to deal with a lot of stuff. So we’re all humans in the end.
“We shouldn’t be measured about fame, about celebrities, about a lot of stuff. I understand why, but I mean, we’re all humans in the end, and I’m just doing my job that I’m very passionate about it, that I love it.
“That doesn’t mean that I have more value than you guys, for example, that are behind the camera who make the questions or these guys who are here filming. We’re all humans, and we all have our value. I don’t compare myself to anyone, I’m just myself. We all are unique. We all are special. We all have greatness in ourselves. We all have demons in our mental health, so we all are dealing with different situations. I don’t like to compare myself to anything.
Ok, got all that so far, we’re still just getting warmed up here. Chicharito, who has made more appearances (103) and scored more goals (59) than he has with any other club, continued his monologue, at one point sounding a bit like Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy and Ma$e, with some Mo Money Mo Problems rhetoric.
“So about that celebrity, honestly, man, I don’t even feel sometimes I’m a soccer player because I come and I play and I do something that I even eat inside my belly of my mom, even soccer is my whole life, it’s been everything. So the message that I changed is just self love and just acceptance and it’s just like I’m not perfect, no one is perfect. I have my life. I have my shadow, I have things that I’m proud of and things I need to control so I don’t decide wrong in the path of my life I want to walk. It’s not simple. It’s not easy.
That’s another message that I want to say. People think that problems get solved with fame and with money. Yeah, the problems you have in that moment probably get solved, but you attract way bigger problems because you have more responsibility and you are in a different level of responsibility. But for me, it’s just I have one life, man.
“The only certainty that we all have in common is that we are just going to exist once, we’re going to die, hopefully later than sooner, but eventually we’re going to do, and we should just come here and give our best, enjoy it, try to grow, and have every single time good intentions. Mistakes are going to happen. We learn from them. We just need to enjoy life.
WOW! That was a whole lot better than the industry standard boilerplate. You know, the “we’re just going to give it 110%, try to get get better each day, control what we can control, do the best we can, take it one day at a time, give it up to the man above, trust in God, thank Jesus, all things go through Him and hopefully, it will all work it out in the end because it is what it is” nonsense.
In addition to Man United and the Galaxy, Chicharito (which translates to “Little Pea” in English) has played for West Ham United, Bayer Leverkusen, Sevilla, Guadalajara and Real Madrid (brief loan move). He is an absolute rock star in Mexico and among the Mexican community. When he comes to Chicago to play on Saturday, Soldier Field will fill up with Mexican-Americans who have come to cheer him on.
No soccer team draws the crowds in Chicago like El Tri, (not by a country mile, not even the USMNT or the big European clubs when they have stopped by on preseason tours) so Chicharito will definitely move the needle and increase the gate.
Chicharito was then asked about that, and again, he provided a very thoughtful response, one that last over two minutes.
“Even if you are not famous and even though you are not an athlete or a singer or an actor or something, you always have more people around yourself that wish you more positive things than negative things, that’s for sure,” Chicharito responded.
“The situation is sometimes it has more [noise] when people don’t support you than the people who really support you. So every single day I know, and I’m very grateful for the people who send that energy, starting from my kids, the people around me, the people that I love, my family, my friends, my teammates. You can juststart like expanding.
“There’s people that always, always wish you the best and wish you what they are, and I believe that in this society we have a lot of people that are dealing with their own lives and they’re always focusing on themselves to be the best version of themselves. So by consequence they wish you that.”
Still with us at this point? I know, the word count here is getting massive, but there is still more.
“So I answer that question in that way because I always say that I’m always grateful, even now in training, I know there’s a few people that sometimes come here and just want an autograph or a photo, I’m always, always, always for the people that give time and energy to support myself or to support anyone, and especially LA Galaxy over here,” Chicharito continued.
“So that’s why I want to say, even if you’re there in Chicago now we’re going to be there, or they’re here in L.A., or in Mexico or China or they are in whatever part of the world, I just want to say thank you to anyone who gives a lot of good energy because something I believe too in life is that whatever you give, you’re going to receive it sooner or later.”
If you’re going to the game Saturday night, to see Chicharito and everyone else, have fun and dress warm.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.