Daniel LeCroy DeVall (born September 15, 1972 in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

) is a retired professional U.S.

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and the current CEO of ''Merging Global Technologies''. He is the founder and was the CEO of Local Business Marketing Corporation. In his professional soccer career, he played two games for the Colorado Rapids in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

but spent most of his career with his longest tenured team, the

Nashville Metros The Nashville Metros were an American soccer team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1989, the team most recently played in the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the South A ...

. Mr. DeVall retired from the

and professional competition in 2008, and has been inducted into the

hall of fame.

Youth

The son of Roger DeVall and Diana Dillingham Mon, Daniel DeVall attended St. Ann’s Elementary School in Bartlett, TN, a suburb of Memphis. DeVall excelled at sports and went on to compete in Soccer and Wrestling at Memphis Catholic High School where he graduated in 1990. He was given a full scholarship for soccer by Chris Bartels, the head coach of the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

, at that time called Memphis State University.

Soccer

After a year at the

and starting at times as a freshman, he dropped out to pursue his dream of being a professional soccer player. DeVall played two years for the Memphis Jackals of the semi-pro

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. In 1996, while playing on the Tennessee Olympic Development Program (ODP) team, the coach of the USISL club

, Rhomes “Zito” Aur, recruited DeVall to play for him. In 1997, the

were promoted to full professional status as an A-League division team of the

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

. In 1999, financial considerations led to the team moving to Franklin, Tennessee and renaming itself the

Tennessee Rhythm Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to the ...

. In 2000, DeVall was called up by the Colorado Rapids of

. DeVall played 30 minutes of his first MLS game against the Columbus Crew. He then started and played 80 minutes of his next game for the Colorado Rapids at a home game in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. DeVall was offered the league minimum, $24,000 per year, by head coach

Glenn Myernick Glenn "Mooch" Myernick (December 29, 1954 in Trenton, New Jersey – October 9, 2006 in Thornton, Colorado) was an American soccer player and coach. He won the 1976 Hermann Trophy as that year’s outstanding collegiate player. He then spent eig ...

. DeVall turned down the offer as he was making more than double the money in Nashville playing for the Metros and working as a mortgage broker for People’s Home Equity. In 2001, the Rhythm returned to Nashville, regaining the Metros name. It also dropped from the USL A-League to the fourth division

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

. DeVall played for the Metros until officially retiring in 2008, holding the team record in games played. DeVall is one of only two players inducted into the

Hall of Fame.NASHVILLE METROS RECORD BOOK
/ref>

References

External links

2008 Nashville Metros
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devall, Danny Living people 1972 births American soccer players Soccer players from Tennessee USISL players Memphis Tigers men's soccer players Memphis Jackals players Nashville Metros players Tennessee Rhythm players Colorado Rapids players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players Association football midfielders