Could Jon Stewart be leaving “The Daily Show” to pursue a career in soccer?
Probably not, but what many people don’t know about the iconic comedian/political pundit is that he used to play soccer. He actually played in college at William & Mary, and thanks to some digging from the Hartford Courant, we know Stewart was once a star on the pitch for at least a day.
The Courant uncovered a story from October 1983 detailing how a young John Leibowitz (Stewart) scored the only goal in William & Mary’s 1-0 win over the University of Connecticut.
It was a big win, too, as UConn was considered the top team in New England at the time.
“Three years ago we beat Penn State in overtime at home, but to come here and beat Connecticut on their own turf is the kind of thing you dream about,” Stewart said at the time, according to the Courant. “I think they may have been a bit disorganized at the start of the game on the goal. Scott Bell got free on the left, but the goalie came out and got part of the ball. I was left completely unmarked.”
The Courant’s investigative work came after ozy.com published an in-depth story Wednesday detailing Stewart’s soccer career.
“Don’t listen to his jokes about himself. Jon was a good player,” Stewart’s college coach Al Albert has been quoted as saying, according to the ozy.com story. “Jon was very feisty as a player — very high-energy sort of guy.”
Stewart announced Tuesday he was leaving “The Daily Show” to do some new projects. We’ll have to stay tuned to see if any of those take him back to the pitch. Given the career he’s built away from soccer, though, we’re not counting on it.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@TheDailyShow
