DeAndre Yedlin

Yedlin was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. Yedlin began playing soccer at age four and learned while watching his uncle from the sideline. Yedlin was a product of O'Dea High School in Seattle, and was part of Washington Youth Soccer's State Olympic Development Program (ODP) from 2006 to 2009. He also played youth soccer for Emerald City FC and Northwest Nationals before going to U.S. Soccer Development Academy club Crossfire Premier. Yedlin stayed in the DA but moved to the Seattle Sounders FC youth academy for the 2010–11 season. Seattle Sounders youth director Darren Sawatzky first saw him play at age 11 and later said that Yedlin was "an offensive player at the time, he was tricky, he had explosiveness and could run for days." Seattle Sounders FC sporting director Chris Henderson said of Yedlin: "DeAndre has great quickness and speed. He reads the game well, keeps possession, but he's able to attack the flank and get crosses in." On February 8, 2011, Yedlin signed a letter of intent to play college soccer at the University of Akron under coach Caleb Porter. In his first year, Yedlin started in 20 of his 23 games for the Zips, playing alongside future professionals Wil Trapp, Darren Mattocks, Aodhan Quinn, and Scott Caldwell. He scored his first collegiate goal on September 28, 2011, in a 3–1 victory over Ohio State. He finished the year with six assists and made the College Soccer News Freshman All-American team. In his second year, Yedlin made 22 appearances…

Seattle Sounders FC

On January 11, 2013, after two seasons with Akron, Yedlin signed with Seattle Sounders FC as the club's first homegrown player. He made his debut on March 2 in a 1–0 home defeat to the Montreal Impact. Yedlin was named to the MLS Team of the Week for his performance, becoming the first rookie to earn the honor in his professional debut. On March 12, Yedlin shined and scored his first professional goal for the club in a 3–1 win against Tigres in the second leg of the Sounders 3–2 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal aggregate victory. On July 15, Yedlin was named to the MLS All-Star team for their match against Roma on July 31, making him the first rookie to be named to the All-Star team since 2005 when Michael Parkhurst was selected during his rookie season. Yedlin was ranked 3rd among MLS players under the age of 24 in 2013, according to MLSSoccer.com. Yedlin scored his first professional league goal in a 1–1 draw with the Colorado Rapids on July 20, 2013. Yedlin was again named to the MLS All-Star team in 2014, starting in a 2–1 victory against FC Bayern Munich.

Tottenham Hotspur

After success for club and breaking out at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, it was announced on August 13, 2014, that Yedlin had been transferred to Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, signing a four-year contract with the club. Other European clubs, including A.S. Roma, were interested. Yedlin remained with Seattle before joining Tottenham in January 2015.…

2013: Youth level

Yedlin was named to the United States under-20 squad on June 7, 2013, for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey. Yedlin made his U-20 international debut a week later in a 3–1 victory over Portugal.

2014: Senior debut and first FIFA World Cup

Yedlin earned his first call-up to the senior men's national team on January 3, 2014. He made his first appearance with the senior team on February 1, 2014, in a friendly against South Korea. After impressing in January and April, Yedlin was a surprise inclusion by US manager Jurgen Klinsmann on the U.S. final 23-man roster for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He made his World Cup debut against Portugal, coming on as a late second-half substitute. He helped set up Sounders teammate Clint Dempsey's late goal which put the U.S. up 2–1. He also came on late in the next game, a 1–0 loss v. Germany; his deep cross to Dempsey was headed off target. In the round of 16 match against Belgium, Yedlin came on as an early substitute for the injured Fabian Johnson, providing most of the vertical threat for the Americans. Yedlin's performances took many by surprise, being called a "breakout star" by the New York Times.

2016–2017: Copa América Centenario and failures

Yedlin continued playing for the US after 2014, playing in both midfield for defense for Klinsmann. Yedlin was named to the squad for the 2016 Copa America Centenario, starting most games. Yedlin received a second yellow card (and subsequent red)…

Yedlin is one-quarter black, one-quarter Native American, and half Latvian Jewish on his mother's side. Yedlin is very close with his mother, Rebecca Yedlin, who had him when she was very young and is now a college faculty member; his father has never been part of his life. He was raised by his maternal grandfather, Ira Nathan Yedlin, and step-grandmother, Vicki Walton. Yedlin has a sister Jenea who is three years younger than he is. During the 2020–2023 racial unrest in the United States, caused by the police murder of George Floyd, Yedlin was an outspoken supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, asking if there was truly "liberty and justice" for all Americans and recalling the memories of his grandparents who had lived under the Jim Crow system of racial oppression. Yedlin spoke about the country's long history of police brutality against African Americans: "as a young black man in America it's one of those things you just grow up with. You know you have a higher chance of being stopped by the police, or put in jail or eventually being killed." Yedlin admitted he was questioning whether he'd continue to play for the national team. "It's something I've thought a lot about during this quarantine," Yedlin said. "My grandfather, my grandmother especially, I have a whole family of activists, they've always told me to stand up for what I believe in. There's no amount of money that can make me shut up about something I think is wrong. It's one of those waiting games to see…