Beckham dives right in
Before the sun had set on his first full day in Los Angeles, David Beckham had pulled off a minor miracle.
The 32-year-old Englishman, embarking on the task of making professional soccer palatable to the largely resistant American masses, arrived early for his introductory news conference Friday.
Beckham drove himself from his $22-million mansion in Beverly Hills and reached the Home Depot Center in Carson 15 minutes before he was due to meet executives of his new team, the Galaxy, and his new league, Major League Soccer.
What a concept.
A superstar athlete who doesn’t have a posse. Who didn’t try to exert his power by delaying the proceedings and instead showed up ready to work.
He even had time to get a cup of coffee before he met his new teammates.
“One of them came up to me and I said, ‘Nice to meet you,’ ” Beckham said. “He said, ‘Nice to meet you, too. What’s your name?’
“It was a good start and a nice icebreaker.”
Through hours of posing for pictures and talking with about 700 reporters whose questions reflected curiosity, skepticism and some unabashed adoration, Beckham was an island of calm on a hot, hectic day.
His wife Victoria, also known as Posh of the reunited Spice Girls, minced onto the field first in stiletto heels, poured into a knee-length fuchsia sheath dress and carrying a matching suitcase-sized purse. She preened for a battalion of photographers, jutting a skeletal hip forward every now and then before she settled into a folding chair placed before a makeshift stage built at one corner of stadium.
The crowd began to buzz when the stadium’s video screen showed Beckham walking alongside Tim Leiweke, president of AEG -- the Galaxy’s parent company and underwriter of the grand adventure that could be worth $250 million to Beckham over five years. To applause from about 3,000 invitees, mostly season-ticket holders or youth soccer players, Beckham emerged from a tunnel and into the sunlight wearing a classy gray suit, crisp white shirt, pearl-gray tie and gray silk pocket square.
He never sweated.
Leiweke welcomed him and spoke of 250,000 Beckham jerseys having been sold, more than enough to warm the hearts -- and line the pockets -- of everyone involved.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber told the crowd this was a moment to cherish. “I can’t think of a better player or a better man at just the right moment in time to make this all happen,” Garber said.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, taken aback when he was greeted by boos and jeers -- more likely for his public support of Chivas, the Galaxy’s rival and co-tenant, than for his admitted affair with a Telemundo reporter -- gave Beckham a welcome proclamation.
While those around him sweated and wilted, Beckham didn’t wrinkle.
He smiled at the appropriate moments and used his first public remarks to thank the fans for their support, speaking with a Cockney accent that isn’t the polished Queen’s English but is endearing for its tart tang.
He is a fashion icon, setting trends with the bleached-blond buzz cut he sported Friday and other styles he has worn. He is a superb player with an uncanny ability to make a soccer ball swerve and set up teammates with pinpoint passes. He was stoic when he was benched by his club team in Madrid and by England’s national team but diligent enough to regain his place in each squad.
But look past the clothes, hair and paparazzi-magnet wife for a moment. At heart, Beckham is still a kid from a working-class family in London’s East End and he marvels at his good fortune every day. He’s insistent about teaching his three sons to say please and thank you, as his parents taught him, and he’s serious about succeeding at this business of getting Americans to embrace his sport.
“I think soccer around the world is huge,” he said. “I think the only place it’s not huge around the world is the States.
“And I know that there’s other great sports in America. I know there’s the baseball, the basketball, the American football, but I believe that the excitement that can be caused by those other sports can be caused also by soccer, and I’d love to be part of that.”
Unlike the brilliant Pele, imported 30 years ago to boost the game but too far along in his career to have a lasting impact, Beckham enters a league that is stable and governed by a salary cap. Again unlike the Brazilian Pele, who spoke little English, Beckham communicates clearly and well, engaging listeners with steady, piercing eye contact.
“He’s much smarter than people give him credit for,” Galaxy President Alexi Lalas said. “He understands this machine and he uses it to his advantage and he understands the visual aspect of our sport and the entertainment aspect of our sport.
“When you start talking about being an entertainer as an athlete, unfortunately, people think you’re somehow bastardizing it or violating the purity of the sport, and that’s absolutely not the case. People pay money to watch our players play and to watch athletes, and how they look and how they act is part of what generates the interest.”
Beckham said he’s not here to take a vacation or break into movies. “I just believed it was the right time to come,” he said. “People have said to me, ‘You know, you made the decision when you was out of the England team and you was out of the Real Madrid team, do you regret that?’
“In my career I always was sure I made decisions I never, ever will regret. And I believe I will never regret this. I don’t at the moment and I won’t in the future.”
Welcome to the summer of Beckham. Soccer in the U.S. may never be the same.
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Helene Elliott can be reached at helene.elliott@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.
