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In the U.S., professional soccer players fall somewhere between obscurity and anonymity when it comes to name recognition. Ask a fan to list American players, and you'll likely hear Landon Donovan, maybe Tim Howard or Jozy Altidore, possibly Freddy Adu. Only the diehards will mention Jay DeMerit.
A 31-year-old Green Bay native, DeMerit is in his first year playing defense for the Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS after putting together a solid six-year career for English club Watford and playing in 23 matches for the U.S. Men's National Team. Nate Leaf, managing editor of DeMerit's success was so unexpected that it's the subject of a new documentary, kickstarter.com so the film can be released to theaters.