As wannabe managers prepare their fantasy teams and pundits try to nail down their MVP and Golden Boot picks for the upcoming MLS season, the name Kei Kamara will appeal to plenty.
The prolific striker had his best season in 2015 and is coming off of a disappointing MLS Cup loss with as much in the tank as he’s ever had.
And while MLS newcomers know him for his scoring and his celebrations, there’s plenty more to Kamara’s long and winding MLS story than meets the eye.
Goals, goals, goals
First and foremost, Kamara is a scorer.
The striker racked up 22 regular-season goals last year, doubling his career high. He had spent most of his MLS years playing on the wing – most notably for Peter Vermes in Kansas City – but when he arrived in Columbus, Gregg Berhalter made it clear that Kamara was being given the chance he always wanted.
“He played wide for Kansas City, but we see him more as a No. 9,” Berhalter said at the time. “That’s the position he’s most comfortable in. He’s a goal scorer.”
Even Berhalter couldn’t have expected to be signing the league’s most dangerous pure striker.
New DP
With Kamara’s success has come a lucrative new deal.
Wednesday, Crew SC announced that they had given Kamara a new Designated-Player deal, only the fourth in team history. Reports pegged his new salary at more than $1 million.
Kamara said he was “really happy” about the deal and felt that it represented “the past 10 or 11 years” of his career rather than one successful season.
Social Media Star
Kamara isn’t shy about sharing his life on social media.
The fun-loving striker can be found clowning teammates on Twitter or posting pictures on Instagram, and he is a fan favorite on a variety of social media environments.
He also has help, enlisting his wife Kristen, dog Chelsea and new baby daughter Kierin Leone to liven up his online presence.
African upbringings
While Kamara is far from a new face in MLS, the forward has roots in Africa.
Born in the West African nation of Sierra Leone, Kamara came to the United States when he was 16. He left a war-torn country and still recalls sleepless nights, gunfire and fearing for his family’s safety.
“As a kid, you don’t really know what the war is,” he told VICE Sports last year. “Then you start losing family members, friends, waking up in the morning and seeing bodies on the ground.”
Humanitarian
With Kamara’s African roots has come a sense of responsibility to give back, and he was honored as last year’s MLS Humanitarian of the Year.
Since 2005, Kamara has been working – alongside former MLS player and countryman Michael Lahoud – with the Schools for Salone initiative, helping to rebuild schools in Sierra Leone villages that have been destroyed by wars. The program has built 16 schools and two libraries.
He’s spent plenty of time throughout his career working with charities and other humanitarian efforts and was a finalist for the award in 2012 as well.
International hiatus
Though he has talked openly about his love for Sierra Leone and the pride he feels representing his country, Kamara announced last season that he would be taking an indefinite hiatus from the national team.
The striker sees it as sending a message to the country’s soccer federation. He says while players give their all, Sierra Leone Football Association leaders aren’t giving anything back.
“I just see players making a lot of sacrifices,” he said in October. “But the people that control us, that organize all the games and everything, aren’t making sacrifices [like] players for the country.”
He did, however, leave open the possibility of a return someday.
No newcomer
While he was hailed as a new signing all of last season, Kamara isn’t new to MLS or Crew SC.
Columbus – then just the Crew – drafted Kamara with the ninth-overall selection in the 2006 SuperDraft. But things didn’t work out for his first trip to Columbus, and he played in San Jose and Houston before settling with Kansas City for a productive five-year spell.
He played so well in Kansas City that he caught the eye of English teams and played for Norwich City and Middlesbrough before deciding it was time to come back to MLS. Berhalter jumped on the opportunity, and Kamara’s return has been the perfect fit for both parties.
Half of a dynamic duo
While Kamara can do plenty of damage himself, he made up half of one of the most dangerous duos in the league last year.
Kamara and teammate Ethan Finlay combined for 55 goals and assists last season, including six goals Kamara scored straight from Finlay passes. The pair spent much of 2015 at the top of the goal (Kamara) and assist (Finlay) charts and were on a special wavelength.
“It’s those kind of little innate plays that you’re able to make with a guy and just make eye contact and know the body language,” Finlay said of their connection last season.
A chip on his shoulder
Kamara is never short of motivation and always finds ways to fuel his physical game.
In the midst of the best season of his life last year, Kamara was snubbed from the first round of voting for the MLS All-Star Game despite leading the league in scoring. And while some athletes would avoid showing their frustration, Kamara let it fly.
“You’re either a US national team player or you’re a DP to be on there,” he said at the time.
Nearing retirement?
After Crew SC’s disappointment in MLS Cup, Kamara said he was one win from retiring. While reporters couldn’t tell if he was joking or serious at the time, his words seemed straightforward enough.
“I’m about to make an announcement. I’m retiring,” he said, reporters laughing in response.
“I would have done that if we had won the Cup, by the way. Just letting you know,” he added. “It’s not a joke. I would have done that.”
But with a new long-term deal in Columbus, it doesn’t seem like Kamara is going anywhere quite yet.
