Rhett Stowe Harty (born March 8, 1970 in Pasadena, California) is an American former soccer defender who spent one season in the

Western Soccer League Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer All ...

, one in the Continental Indoor Soccer League, one in the

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 ...

and three with the MetroStars of Major League Soccer.

Career

High School and college

Harty grew up in Los Angeles and attended Servite High School where he played on the boys’ soccer team. He was a Parade Magazine high school All American in 1987 and 1988.
/sup> After graduating from Servite in 1988, he entered Stanford University. He played three years, then red shirted a season while he played with the U.S. Olympic soccer team as it qualified for the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. A late injury kept him from travelling with the team. He returned to Stanford and graduated in 1993 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in history and classical studies. During his final year of college, Harty had an internship with an electrophysiology doctor. After graduation, the doctor offered him a position in his practice, but Harty declined and became a professional soccer player instead.
/sup>

Minor leagues

In 1989, Harty spent the collegiate off season with the

San Francisco Bay Blackhawks San Francisco Bay Blackhawks were a professional soccer team which came into existence in 1989 as a team in the Western Soccer League (WSL). The Blackhawks spent time in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and the United States Interreg ...

of the

(WSL).
/sup> After graduating from Stanford, Harty was sidelined for nearly two years with a back injury. In 1994, he signed with the expansion

San Jose Grizzlies The San Jose Grizzlies were a professional indoor soccer team based in San Jose, California. The team was founded on November 24, 1993, and played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL). After playing in the 1994 and 1995 CISL seasons, th ...

of the Continental Indoor Soccer League. In 1995, he moved to the

Monterey Bay Jaguars California Jaguars were an American soccer team that played in Salinas, California at the Salinas Sports Complex. They joined the USISL in 1995 as the Monterey Bay Jaguars, but changed the name a year later. They played in the A-League in 1997 ...

MLS

In February 1996, the San Jose Clash drafted Harty in the fourth round of the 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft; however, he never played a game for his hometown club. When

Troy Dayak Troy Michael Dayak (born January 29, 1971) is an American former soccer player who played as central defender. He spent his entire Major League Soccer career with the San Jose Clash/Earthquakes and nearly all of his professional career playing ...

, who was drafted by the MetroStars, demanded a trade to San Jose, Harty was shipped cross-country in the first trade in MLS history. Harty, a midfielder initially, immediately stepped into the Metro defense. After the team struggled early in the year, he shaved his head, and the Metros went on to win their next three games. The head would stay shaven throughout his MLS career, and Harty quickly became a fan favorite, earning the nickname ''

Mr. Clean Mr. Clean (or Mr. Proper) is a brand name and mascot, owned by the American company Procter & Gamble, used for an all-purpose cleaner and later also for a melamine foam abrasive sponge. The all-purpose cleaner was originally formulated by Linwo ...

''. He scored one goal and three assists in his three years in the league, plus added a goal in Open Cup play. Rhett was on the forefront in the MLS players' antitrust lawsuit against the league, challenging its single entity structure. Lowballed with a small offer, he chose to retire from soccer instead.

Post soccer career

Following his retirement from professional soccer, Harty spent the next six months traveling in India and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

, soul-searching and helping out the people of the area. He found a new calling in medicine, and moved to the

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

area, where he prepares

pacemakers An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eit ...

and

defibrillator Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric current (often called a ''coun ...

s for patients as an employee of St. Jude Medical.
/sup>

External links

MetroStars profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harty, Rhett 1970 births Living people American soccer players Stanford Cardinal men's soccer players Western Soccer Alliance players San Francisco Bay Blackhawks players USISL players California Jaguars players Continental Indoor Soccer League players San Jose Grizzlies players New York Red Bulls players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' soccer) Sportspeople from Pasadena, California Major League Soccer players Association football defenders Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in football Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Footballers at the 1991 Pan American Games