Maybe it’s the competitive nature that pushed Ryan Hollingshead to the success he’s seen in the MLS. FC Dallas’ defender hasn’t had a linear path as a pro soccer player. In fact, we talk with Ryan about a few twists and turns.
Around the same time he was drafted by FC Dallas, Ryan and his brother had the chance to see a dream come alive of building a non-denominal church near where they grew up. He chose the church being faithful that FCD would still be an option when he was ready, and says he wouldn’t change a thing.
Icy roads on a cold night in January 2016 caused a car accident that then caused Ryan to pull over to help. While asking the driver if they needed an ambulance, a car hit Ryan launching him down the highway breaking 3 bones in his neck. After a lot of work and help from his medical providers, Ryan was able to find his way back to the soccer field and go on to become a clutch veteran player for FC Dallas in 2019.
Enjoy Ryan’s story and listen to more episodes from the Hustle & Pro archives.
Show Notes
- [0:27] Quick hits with Ryan Hollingshead
- [3:20] Multi-sport and working to be the best
- [6:46] Become a pro athlete or build a church?
- [8:47] Ryan’s accident
- [14:00] Turning the corner with the club in 2019
- [15:04] His parenting style with sports
Resources within this episode:
- Ryan Hollingshead: Bio | Twitter @rmhollingshead | Ryan’s NEGU Crew Episode
- FC Dallas Website
- Other FC Dallas players and staff on Hustle and Pro:
Reggie Cannon | Tanner Tessman | Edwin Cerillo | Eddie Munjoma | Eric Quill - Kelly Walker: Instagram @kelly_walkertexas | Twitter: @kelly_walker_TX
Connect with Lifestyle Frisco:
Transcript: (machine-generated)
Welcome to Hustle and Pro season two talking sports and Frisco from youth to pro. Now here’s your host, Kelly Walker.
Today on hustle and pro FC Dallas defender. Ryan Hollingshead joins us again, but today we’re talking about his career and the unique nature of his rookie season with the MLS. We’re also gonna talk about the serious accident that derailed his career, and now having a standout season here in 2020. Welcome Ryan Hollingshead. Ryan, who is your favorite athlete of all time?
Oh my gosh. That’s that is so tough. Athlete of all time. I would say, I think Roger Federer is my favorite athlete of all time. LeBron James as well. Those are two of my, my like heroes in the sports world. And partly because of how dominant, how good they are at their, their craft and their support. But partly too, because they’re just stand up guys. Like Roger Federer has to be the most well loved athlete of all time, or at least up there with a few of them because of the way he handles himself off the court as well. And then LeBron, James is one of the guys that just is such like a faithful husband, faithful father, those sorts of things that I’m like, uh, I love when a player is not only exceeding on the court, but off the court. And both those guys do so exceedingly well.
Do you have any sports superstitions?
I mean, I have like a, yeah, kind of, I try, I try to not be superstitious, but like I have the same pair of shinguards that I’ve been wearing for the last 10 years. And they’re, you know, they’re only like six inches long. They’re tiny. They barely even work but 10 years. Yeah. But I will not ever play a game. Oh yeah. I need to, I need to show you a picture of him or something. Yeah.
I live with soccer players. My husband still plays recreationally and my son plays, I can imagine how beat up they are and I can’t imagine they smell great. They can’t have much even do much anymore.
They don’t. Not super helpful, but that’s probably the biggest one. The other one is just like, you know, you have a game day routine take in eating the meals in a certain time and stuff like that. But that’s the shin guards is probably my biggest superstition.
You guys are probably off that routine. Your routines had to be altered a little with flying to away games game day instead of overnight. That’s probably another adjustment y’all are having to figure out in 2020, right?
Yeah, that’s right. Yeah. We’ve, we’ve been flying in the day of and flying out immediately after the games to avoid all of this COVID stuff. And so that’s thrown off a little bit, but I still, I fight for all of the, I try to keep their routine as similar as I can. Yeah.
Okay. This one’s easy. What’s your favorite sports movie?
Oh, there’s, there’s probably a couple of Miracle, Mighty Ducks, Rocky. Those are probably like a few that just come. Those came to my mind immediately.
I think you’re, I think you’re 80 episodes in and you’re the first, I think you’re the first one who’s said Rocky, for sure.
Rocky is classic. Oh my gosh.
That’s awesome. All right. I’m curious. I think I read that you were a two sport athlete or multi-sport athletes in high school. So when I talked to professional athletes, um, I’m always curious how, how many sports you played up to what age and level, and when you decide to focus on the sport that you playing for a career.
Oh man, that is such a hard question because I, I love like I’m so competitive. If you put anything in front of me, that’s competition and I’m talking like card game, you know, a different sport, tennis, basketball, soccer, uh, I mean I turned like everything into a competition. You know, if I finished an empty water bottle, I have a game with myself where like, I have to find the closest trashcan and try to shoot it from wherever I’m standing into the trashcan. Like everything, when you’re competitive, everything becomes competition. So it’s hard to really focus on one or the other. I think for me, it just came down to which one I was most successful at was the one that I was enjoying the most.
What’d you play in school?
So I played tennis, soccer and basketball in high school. And I think I, I love all three of those sports really, really enjoy them. I was best at soccer for sure. Uh, understood the game, most soccer. And I was playing soccer since I was like three years old, whereas tennis, I picked up when I was maybe eight or nine and basketball kind of same thing. I picked it up later. And so I had a comfortability with a game of soccer, um, from an early, early age that I didn’t have with those two other sports.
I think obviously star athletes that are at the best on their team wire to wire and they just they’re always the best on their team. But then I think a lot though, um, you’re, you’re a mid to better player on your team and you kind of have to fight and stay good, but not maybe always the best throughout, you know, high school. And if you play in college and beyond, so where, where would you put you on all of your youth teams thru the college level?
Yeah, I was, I was exactly that. I always, when I was young, I played up a couple of years because I played with my older brothers on their teams. And so I was always like middle of the pack for that for those times. But I was also playing with the kids that were two or three years older than I was. Um, and then when I went to my own age team, I was the best player on the team up until about high school and then with, with high school and with like puberty and boys growing at different ages and stuff. So many things changed during that time. And so I was a late bloomer, like I hit puberty late and I was getting surpassed by kids that are hitting puberty earlier and becoming faster and stronger and bigger. And then as soon as I began to grow as well, I kind of caught back up, you know, I was not the us national team player that was, always coveted and everybody wanted me from day one. I was always the best player. I had a ton of ups and downs and it took a lot of perseverance and fighting. And again, like I said, I was so competitive that there were just any time if I wasn’t the best, I was always asking the question of why am I not the best? Who does something better than I do? And how can I start doing better myself and start beating them and not saying,
Yeah. So the ups and downs, you mentioned, obviously that happens throughout, um, probably your high school and college career, but I mean, you’ve had some serious ups and downs or not really all ups and downs, but some, some interesting bumps in the road. Um, and your pro career, when you were originally drafted, you skipped your rookie season to build a church with your brother. Is this true?
Yes. Yes. That is a true story. So, uh, my brother and I had been talking about planting a Christian nondenominational Bible teaching church in our hometown and outside of Sacramento where we grew up. And so it came down to which, which of the two that I want to do and which one did I want to do more? And I chose the church and, uh, and my brother and I kind of built that thing from the ground up. And, uh, luckily, uh, the organization here at FC Dallas continued to reach out to me through that time and continue to offer me to come back out and play. And so about a year later, I was able to come back out and play soccer, but it was a, it was a crazy experience. I wouldn’t change it for the world. My brother and I had a blast and it was incredibly difficult to start that church, but it was so fulfilling. But the, but God was faithful and I was able to end up doing both in the end, which, which I’m really grateful for.
Amazing. You probably had people telling you you’re crazy for not jumping on the opportunity. You had to start your pro career right away, but that’s amazing that you, that you made that decision and you made them both work.
Yeah. A lot of people thought it was crazy to turn down the potential of becoming a professional athlete, especially because there was no guarantee that the contract would be on the table six months or a year later, or whenever it was, it was kind of like take it or leave it type of deal. Um, but yeah, I, I made the right decision and in the end it all worked out, so.
Then fast forward a couple years later, I don’t know the exact timeline, when you had your accident. Right. So, um, you helped the car that was stranded on the, of the road. Right. And then that when you were out, another car came and hit you, is this correct?
Yeah, that’s exactly correct. So I was helping, there was a crash in front of me when I was driving down. The freeway was an icy road. Uh, it was snowing that night. So all the roads were frozen over and I saw the car right in front of me getting an accident and I pulled over to help them get out of their car. Cause they were stranded in the middle of the freeway and we got them out of his car. We were standing in the shoulder and I was just kind of asking him how he was doing if he was okay if he needed me to call an ambulance. And in that time while we were talking, our car came driving through the shoulder and hit me where I was standing and just like launched me down the freeway. And it was, it was a really, really scary moment. I ended up breaking three bones in my neck, um, and had to be like cast it and, immobilized and missed almost half a season because of it.
So I think 128 days later you came back.
Yes, that sounds right. And that was due in major part to my doctors and the staff I was able to work with. They were able to basically heal the three vertebrae in my neck without surgery. Um, which surgery, when it comes to your, when it comes to your spine means fusion, which would limit range of motion and yeah, exactly. So they were able to heal that. So that was a major factor in me coming back in 128 days. And then as well, I was, you know, doing everything I could, uh, from, you know, moving my legs while in, when, uh, in a bed and in a cast and trying to do like body weight, squats and stuff like that, to just speed up the process and get back as soon as possible.
That’s amazing. Like, just hearing you talk about the accident itself gives me chills, but I want tell you, I was, there was a training session back. I mean, that was what, 2016. When, when did you come back and start playing? Was that 16 or 17?
Yeah, I got hit January of 16, I believe. And was back by June of that same year.
So then that June, that was back when, um, I guess they would have open training where season ticket holders could come and fans could come watch. We were there one day on the sidelines, literally sitting on the grass on like, I guess probably AdvoCare one by the stadium. And I don’t know if it was like your first actual training back or what it was, but, um, you had a lot of people on the sidelines. You had friends that were there, I think college friends or something and sitting near us. And it was like a really big deal touching to everybody on the sidelines to see out there, training and running and doing your thing. And, I don’t think you had a lot of minutes that day, but I think it was like one of the first things that you went back out there and it was, it was awesome. It was really cool to be there and watch it.
Yeah, it really was. And I think because of like the unknown of what was going to happen when I first broke my neck and was like laying in the middle of the street after getting hit, I was temporarily paralyzed for about a minute, just like sitting on the ground. I couldn’t move any part of my body. And so I for a second was like, Oh, I’m like, I’m not only am I not playing soccer again. Like I’m not wrestling around with my kiddos. Like I’m not, I’m not, you know, driving, I’m not being an active parent in any way. Like this is going to be my life. And so going from that to then a minute later, like getting feeling back in my limbs and then, you know, four months later, 128 days later being to being able to compete again at like the highest level, it was just this surreal roller coaster of what I thought could have been to them being back on the field. And honestly just renewed my love for the game and my, um, yeah, my thankfulness to be able to play the game I love for a live thing and have a body that works the way that it works. Because I think as an athlete, you know, your body is you whip your body into shape and you have so much control over your body. And, um, you’re able to do so many things with your body as a professional athlete and all that was just gone. Yeah,
Yeah. In an instant. And here we are 2020. And I feel like you, I mean, obviously you had some hiccups, you, you skipped that first possible season and then skip half of a year just trying to get back to physically being able to play. And I don’t know if it was last season maybe, or the season before, but I feel like you had a turning point and you just became, um, you, you got more minutes, you became a starter on the team and a leader on the team and now, you know, you’re, you’re a veteran and everybody kind of looks up to you and you’re one of the main phases of the club. Right. So do you feel that happened in 2018?
Yeah. So after 2017, 2018 was a little bit of an up and down kind of bumpy year. I felt good, but it’s not really wanting to go into tackles afraid of that. Just find that couldn’t hold up. And so 2018 was kind of up and down, but it was 2019 that I was able to put in a ton of work in the off season and come in in 2019. Yes. Like focus and confidence and, uh, my body feeling better than I had ever felt before. And that’s where things really changed where I just kind of became like the starter for, you know, the whole season and, and had a, uh, like a confidence. I think that I hadn’t before, up until that point. And so, yeah, 2019 was really that year
And you’re having a good 2020, even though it’s weird and start and stop and strangeness to it. Um, I have one more question for you since you are a parent. I mean, the guys on your team range range in age from, you know, kids finishing high school, um, to I don’t know what is 32 or four? I’m not sure. The oldest,
I think Reto is the oldest and he’s 34, I believe. Yeah.
That runs the gamut of, you know, really young kids. And then some of you guys who do have a couple kiddos already, um, so how many kids do you have?
Yeah, so I have two kids, a four year old and a three year old and then I have a foster baby right now. Who’s 18 months old.
That’s awesome. So my question about that is, um, I’m always curious your sports parenting style, assuming your kids are, are gonna dabble in sports. Do you see yourself, since you were uber competitive, self-proclaimed, do you see yourself, um, being allowed soccer dad on the sidelines or will you try to chill out and just let them do their thing?
Yeah, my wife and I have talked about this so many times already more than we should have because our kids, our oldest is only four, so we’re not even close to like real competitive soccer yet, but, uh, I will be very, very quiet. I will not be involved as like a coach or anything because exactly as I’ve proclaimed, I’m way too competitive. And so there’s no in between for me, there’s no like there’s no, uh, there’s no middle ground where like I’m a little bit competitive, but a little bit supportive. I either am all competitive and super fiery or, or just need to be kind of passive and supportive. So I’m going to be not the coach. I will be at every game though. I mean, I want to be a part of everything they’re doing. And so I want to be at all the games. I want to be there, but I want to be really supportive and not competitive. So I’m gonna, I’m gonna stay on the sideline.
Well, good luck with that. It’s hard. Like you said, once you commit to that, then you can, you know, show up knowing you’re just, just going to be quiet and watch and enjoy it. You might have to take a page from the Abby Wambach parenting book where they would sit on the sidelines and, um, have like a sucker or something in their mouth so that they just sat there quietly and didn’t yell and make us get too involved in it. And just sit there and remind themselves. We’re just, we’re just here on the sidelines. It’s not a pro soccer game.
Yes. There you go. That’d be me. Well, awesome.
Well, that’ll be really fun when your kids, they’re almost there. They’re probably already at the age where you can get them into, into rec soccer. Like you said, it started at three or four. That’s about when I started. That’s awesome.
Our oldest played like the YMCAs league, so yeah. That’ll be fun for him to do again this year.
And it comes in, it gets there fast. I mean, as they work up through all the baby soccer and, and then the fields get bigger at like seven and you know, then they get to like 9v9 and goalies happen and it’s, it’s fun to watch them progress. We’re at a U 11 now and we just jumped into the FC Dallas, club. Got it. That’s awesome. My son has like, what he thinks is the official kit. Just like you guys. So yeah. So he thinks he’s big time. He wears it to your games and he’s 21. So he’s, uh, obviously he’s a Mikey B [Barrios] fan. Um, he’s 21 and all his sports. So he, sports his FC Dallas Jersey.
Oh, I love it. I love it. Yeah. That’s official big time.
I know you’re busy. I know that you just got off the field. And so I appreciate you zooming with us and giving us a peek into, into your, uh, FC Dallas career.
Thanks Kelly. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.
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