Sports
Hernández: How Kei Kamara escaped Sierra Leone to star for LAFC
The explosion outside of his school. The vultures feasting on corpses in the streets. The water gushing into the boat that was ferrying him to safety.
The images of war remain with Kei Kamara to this day.
The LAFC striker pictures them whenever he shares the story of his childhood in Sierra Leone. He often sees them in his dreams.
“I get these nightmares,” Kamara said. “I’m always running. I’m always running from chaos.”
The memories continue to haunt the 39-year-old Kamara, but they also have convinced him of how fortunate he is.
So rather than be disenchanted with how he’s switched teams more than a dozen times in his career, he celebrates how someone has always wanted him.
So instead of complaining about how he played irregularly last year with the Chicago Fire, he points out how his diminished role allowed him to score a milestone goal this year while playing for his hometown team.
“I’m this kid who ran away from a civil war,” Kamara. “I should not be here.”
Here, in his 19th year in professional soccer.
Here, with a resume that includes a stop in the English Premier League.
Here, in second place all-time in career goals in Major League Soccer, one spot ahead of Landon Donovan.
A boy selling soft drinks that he carries overhead walks past a clinic taking care of Ebola patients in Kenema, part of war-torn Sierra Leone, in 2014.
(Youssouf Bah / Associated Press)
Kamara was living in the Sierra Leone town of Kenema when his mother won an immigration lottery that permitted her to move to the United States. He was left with an aunt, who was one of five wives in a polygamous family that included about three dozen children. Kamara considered them to be brothers and sisters, adding that he didn’t know what a cousin was at the time. They played soccer on the family compound’s courtyard or on the 6-foot-wide path between adjacent buildings on the property.
But their lives were about to be disrupted, as a civil war that broke out on the Liberian border moved into the cities.
Kamara was in school when he heard the explosion that changed everything. A grenade had detonated outside.
“I remember running out of school, running into this little alleyway,” he said. “Kids were falling down and we were jumping over each other. I’m getting close to home and I realize I left my brothers and sisters. So I had to turn back around and run through the crowd. They were sitting in class.
“I don’t think there was a calm time after that.”
Kenema became dangerous. Rebel forces swept the streets for potential child soldiers, and Kamara said two of his cousins were captured.
“We never got to see them again,” he said.
His family moved to Sierra Leone’s capital of Freetown, but the conflict followed them.
“When there were gunshots, we all ran in the house,” he said. “When it was done, you’d hear neighbors and people crying because they lost family members. You could see their bodies.”
A temporary cease-fire presented Kamara and some of his family members with a chance to escape. Before they could board a plane to Gambia, however, they had to cross the Sierra Leone River by boat.
“It’s built with wood, so there’s always water coming in,” Kamara said. “I remember there were people with buckets bailing the water out. I remember thinking, ‘We’re not going to make it out, we’re going to drown.’”
Kamara spent close to two years in Gambia, after which he and his relatives were granted asylum in the United States. He first set foot in this country on Oct. 26, 2000.
“I will never forget that day,” he said.
Kei Kamara heads the ball away from Union defender Jack Elliott while playing for the Chicago Fire in last season.
(Rich Schultz / Associated Press)
Kamara initially lived with an uncle in Maryland. The arrangement lasted only a couple of months, and Kamara moved across the country to be with his mother in Hawthorne.
“It wasn’t all peaches and cream,” Raphael Saye said.
Kamara’s and Saye’s mothers were close friends, and Saye’s mother often looked after Kamara when his mother worked nights as a waitress at the Normandie Casino. Kamara came to refer to Saye as his brother.
“He had to deal with being different at school,” Saye said. “Being African, he had an accent. His mannerisms were different.”
Kamara enrolled at Leuzinger High in Lawndale, where he crossed paths with future NBA players Dorell Wright and Russell Westbrook. Kamara found his place on the soccer field. Classmate Cristian Olvera insisted he try out for his youth club, the Manhattan Beach Hurricanes.
“After 10 minutes, I just remember saying, ‘Oh my goodness, we’ve struck gold.’ He just did things that were jaw-dropping,” said Hurricanes coach Bruce Myhre.
Because Kamara’s mother worked nights, Myhre joked, “I ended up being his chauffeur.”
Twice a week, Myhre picked up Kamara in his silver Nissan Pathfinder to drive him to practice in Manhattan Beach. He also drove him to games.
“That’s when I first started to find out his story,” Myhre said.
Myhre became a father figure to Kamara and made sure college coaches knew about him. One of them was Joe Flanagan, who at the time headed the program at Division II Cal State Dominguez Hills.
When Kamara was a high school senior, Flanagan ran into him at Dominguez Hills. Kamara had applied to the university and was on his way to Flanagan’s office to inform him that he wanted to play there.
“Kei was all over it,” Flanagan said.
Kei Kamara bursts ahead of two defenders while playing for the Rapids in 2019.
(Jack Dempsey / Associated Press)
Kamara had a plan. The Galaxy’s new stadium was on the Dominguez Hills campus. Expansion team Chivas USA was about to join them as a tenant in what was then called the Home Depot Center.
“If I want to play pro, this is probably the best place to go,” Kamara recalled thinking at the time.
Kamara found work at the stadium. He erected the goals. He placed the corner flags. He set up the advertising boards that lined the field.
“He was the first one to get a job and we didn’t understand why,” said Saye, who also enrolled at Dominguez Hills.
Kamara made it a point to become acquainted with Galaxy players. He was soon on a first-name basis with then-Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid.
“I had my soccer shoes in the back of my car all the time,” Kamara said.
The memories elicited a chuckle from Flanagan.
“He was a go-getter,” Flanagan said.
In time, Galaxy players occasionally invited him to kick the ball around with them. After scoring 16 goals as a freshman and 15 as a sophomore, Kamara declared for the 2006 MLS draft.
He was selected with the ninth pick by the Columbus Crew. Schmid was the team’s coach.
Kei Kamara slides on his knees after scoring his second goal for the Dynamo during a 2008 game against Chivas USA. At left is teammate Brian Mullan
(Steve Campbell / Associated Press)
Kamara has played for 11 MLS teams. He’s played in Finland. He’s also played in England, including half a season with Norwich City in the Premier League.
One of his most cherished memories was of playing at Old Trafford. Kamara had visited the stadium the previous year as a spectator.
“A few months later, I’m downstairs with Norwich City playing against Manchester United,” Kamara said. “I’m looking all the way up, like, ‘I was just sitting there in December and now I’m down here.’”
He has a similar sense of wonder when he reflects on how he ended up with LAFC. In March, he was back in Sierra Leone, doing work for his HeartShapedHands Foundation, which serves children in his homeland. Kamara represented the country 39 times before retiring from international soccer in 2022.
Just when he thought his club career might also be over, his agent called to inform him of LAFC’s interest. There was one caveat: He had to try out.
“I did it because it was LAFC,” Kamara said.
Kamara rushed home. He signed a few days later.
Three weeks ago, in a game against the San Jose Earthquakes at BMO Stadium, the 6-foot-3 Kamara scored the kind of goal he’d scored so many times before, soaring over a defender and heading the ball into the back of the net.
The goal was his second of the season and 146th of his MLS career. Donovan, the U.S. national team’s all-time co-leader in goals, retired with 145 goals in MLS.
Kamara scored his 147th two weeks later at the Rose Bowl against the Galaxy.
“There’s just something so beautifully serendipitous,” said Myhre, his youth coach.
Kamara offered a similar view.
“I think it was destined to happen now,” he said. “Because it could have happened last year in Chicago. And it could have happened on the road. And finally to happen here, at home, in front of friends and family, it’s a storybook that I couldn’t have dreamed of.”
Sports
Olympic legend Kaillie Humphries signs with activist sportswear brand XX-XY Athletics amid political rise
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The most accomplished Olympic women’s bobsledder in history is now an official brand ambassador in the movement to “save women’s sports”.
Olympic bobsled legend Kaillie Humphries has signed with the activist sportswear company XX-XY Athletics, becoming the latest medal-winning Olympian to represent the brand.
“Being able to partner with a brand that believes in the same things I do, that’s willing to stand up and actively work on protecting the women’s space and women’s sports is huge,” Humphries told Fox News Digital.
Humphries first spoke out about her support for protecting women’s sports from biological male trans athletes in a Fox News Interview that went viral after the Milan-Cortina Olympics in February.
Humphries had just returned after winning bronze in women’s bobsled, marking her sixth career Olympic medal. She later revealed that she received backlash for coming out as a Republican with other conservative stances in that interview, but didn’t back down.
Humphries went on to be honored at a White House Women’s History Month event by President Donald Trump in March, and gave her Order of Ikkos medal to Trump, citing his actions to protect women’s sports.
“Being able to come back to the USA after the Olympics and then be able to make connections and meet some people, I was able to, when I went to the White House, I was able to meet people that were connected obviously in working with XX-XY and that’s how the conversation started,” Humphries said.
Humphries, who is originally from Canada and competed in her first three Olympics for Canada, moved to the U.S. in 2016 and then competed for Team USA at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
FEMALE ATHLETES ANXIOUSLY AWAIT SUPREME COURT DECISION TO TAKE UP TRANSGENDER PARTICIPATION IN WOMEN’S SPORTS
Kaillie Humphries, U.S. Olympic bronze medalist bobsled athlete, presents the Order of Ikkos to President Donald Trump during a Women’s History Month event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 12, 2026. (Al Drago/Bloomberg)
Just months after that, America was rocked by the news that male transgender swimmer Lia Thomas was winning championships for UPenn’s women’s swim team.
Humphries, who was following the story in the news, found it startling.
Now, as a California resident and the mother of a newborn son, she is energized to help combat the wave of trans athletes in girls’ sports in the state, as California has become the nation’s biggest hotbed for the issue.
XX-XY Athletics co-founder and former U.S. gymnast Jennifer previously told Fox News Digital one of her biggest goals for the brand was to land high-profile superstar women’s athletes as brand ambassadors, especially Olympic medalists.
Now, with Humphries, the brand has a three-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time Olympic podium finisher across her stints for Canada and the U.S.
Humphries joins Olympic silver medalist gymnast MyKayla Skinner and gold medal swimmer Nancy Hogshead on XX-XY Athletics’ growing roster of Olympians.
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USA’s Kaillie Humphries holds a USA flag after winning bronze in the bobsleigh women’s monobob heat 4 at Cortina Sliding Centre during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo on Feb. 16, 2026. (Marco Bertorello/AFP)
“Kaillie is the GOAT of her sport. She is the only Olympian to win gold for two different countries. She is an elite athlete and a courageous, fierce woman who has fought for female athletes to have equal opportunities in sport.” Sey told Fox News Digital.
“The women’s monobob event exists because of Kaillie’s leadership, and she has gold-medal proof that women have the skill, strength, and speed to compete at the highest level. She has driven meaningful change and expanded opportunities for women at the Olympic level — more female athletes represent Team USA because of Kaillie. And that’s exactly why we’re leading with her as we grow in how we support female athletes.”
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Sports
Cancer left him blind. When his son was diagnosed, ex-USC long snapper found Trojans had his back again
Former USC long snapper Jake Olson made college football history at the Coliseum in September 2017 as the first completely blind player to compete in a Division I college football game.
Eight years later, his not-quite-8-month-old son was having the time of his life crawling around on the same field.
The significance of the moment was not lost on Olson.
Rowan Olson plays with a football Sept. 5 on the field at the Coliseum.
(Courtesy of the Olson family)
“Watching Rowan crawl around out there on that grass, in that stadium that shaped so much of my story, was emotional in a way I didn’t expect,” Olson told The Times during a series of interviews over the phone and via email. “It felt like a full-circle blessing.”
It wasn’t the only blessing Olson, his wife, Audrey, and their son experienced during that trip to Los Angeles in September.
“We were actually out there for Rowan’s first checkup after finishing his last round of systemic chemo,” Olson said, “so the whole trip already carried this sense of celebration and relief.”
Rowan was born Jan. 17, 2025, with bilateral retinoblastoma, the same rare childhood cancer that had caused his father to lose both of his eyes by age 12. Since his diagnosis at 6 days old, Rowan has made monthly trips with his parents from their home in Jacksonville, Fla., to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the same place his father had been treated decades earlier while growing up in Huntington Beach.
During those hospital visits, Rowan underwent systemic and intravitreal chemotherapy and laser treatments designed to shrink the cancerous tumors in each of his eyes, stop the cancer from spreading and preserve his vision.
After six months of treatment, the tumors had become small enough that the systemic chemotherapy could stop. And now, according to Dr. Jesse Berry, chief of ophthalmology and director of the retinoblastoma program at CHLA, the laser treatment and injections into Rowan’s eyes are no longer needed as well.
“I think right now he is cancer-free,” Berry said. “We have no evidence that he has active cancer anywhere in his body, but he’s a kiddo that we will always watch closely.”
Rowan celebrates his first birthday in January. His doctor says he has “excellent vision” after months of chemotherapy.
(Courtesy of the Olson family)
The monthly visits to CHLA will eventually be spaced out, but Rowan will have to be monitored the rest of his life in case the cancer returns.
“There’s always a chance that small tumors pop up here and there over the next couple of years, which is normal for retinoblastoma. That’s why constant monitoring is so important,” Olson said. “As long as we stay on top of it, any tiny spot that appears can be lasered immediately and taken care of.”
Unlike Rowan, Olson was not diagnosed until he was 8 months old. His left eye was removed two months later, while the remaining cancer was treated with systemic chemotherapy. Olson was 12 when doctors decided his right eye needed to be removed.
“Retinoblastoma is very treatable — you know, you catch it early, it’s very treatable,” Olson said.
“I just don’t want [Rowan] to have a 12-year battle with this. Dr. Berry made that very clear up front that his situation is a lot different than mine, that we’re going to knock these things out, and he’s going to grow up with sight in both eyes and really never probably remember a lot of it.”
According to Berry, Rowan has “excellent vision.”
Olson’s ophthalmologist at CHLA was the late Dr. A. Linn Murphree, a pioneer in ocular oncology who later served as Berry’s mentor.
After Rowan was diagnosed, the Olsons didn’t hesitate in choosing a hospital more than 2,400 miles from home for their son’s treatment, both because of its reputation as a leading retinoblastoma center and because of the special care Olson received there throughout his childhood.
Dr. Jesse Berry holds Rowan Olson while standing between the newborn’s parents, Audrey and Jake, in early 2025.
(Courtesy of the Olson family)
“I texted [Berry] — at what was 6:30 in the morning her time — and she responded within two minutes, encouraging us and confidently telling us that she will take the best care of Rowan,” Olson said. “That’s just a glimpse into who she is and the culture Dr. Murphree built.”
At the time, Berry was dealing with hardship of her own. She and her family had just lost their Altadena home in the Eaton fire and were considering leaving the Los Angeles area to rebuild their lives. She said a call from Olson about his newborn son helped her decide to stay.
“Jake called and said, ‘I just had a baby, and I’m sitting in a doctor’s office and they think he has RB, and I want to come see you.’ And that was the same week as the fire,” Berry said. “And so I said, ‘OK, we’ll see you next week.’ He and his family were a real anchor to keeping us set in L.A. and really focused on the greater mission.”
Once back at CHLA, Olson experienced an intense feeling of deja vu.
“We walked into the same waiting room I used to sit in, the same exam rooms, hearing the same vocabulary I hadn’t heard in years. It was like being thrown straight into the deep end of my past,” Olson said.
“The hardest moment was going to the part of the hospital where my last surgery — the one that took my eyesight — took place. Even though I couldn’t see it, my body remembered. I had to fight back panic I didn’t even know I was capable of feeling. But I had to stay steady for Audrey and for Rowan. That was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
But the location of the monthly treatments came with an extra benefit.
“When we found out that [Rowan] had this tumor, we immediately flew out to California and were surrounded by Jake’s family, who had gone through this and had the experience, the wisdom and knowledge around the disease,” Audrey Olson said.
Audrey, Jake and Rowan Olson take a family selfie after a long travel day from Florida to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in May.
(Courtesy of the Olson family)
“So I really leaned on the support of the family we were surrounded by. And then I also just leaned on Jake, who I know lived a major life after losing his sight and battling his cancer. We definitely leaned on each other a ton and could not have done it without each other.”
USC football has been a major part of Olson’s life since childhood. Upon learning he would be losing his eyesight, Olson became determined to watch as much of the Trojans as he could before his surgery. Then-coach Pete Carroll heard about Olson and allowed him to hang out with the team in meetings, in the locker room and on the sideline. His last day with sight was spent at a USC practice.
It wouldn’t be Olson’s last time in that environment. Not even close. After years of learning the techniques of a long snapper, Olson earned a first-string spot at the position for Orange Lutheran and joined the Trojans in 2015 as a walk-on player.
Two years later, on Sept. 2, 2017, then-coach Clay Helton called on the 20-year-old long snapper for an extra-point attempt following a USC touchdown against Western Michigan. Olson’s snap, as described by The Times’ Bill Plaschke at the time, was “perfect” and the kick was good, sealing a 49-31 Trojans victory.
USC long snapper Jake Olson conducts the marching band after the Trojans’ 49-31 win over Western Michigan on Sept. 2, 2017, at the Coliseum.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
“You just never know what’s going to come from adversity and from situations, like the miracles that can come from what we think are tragedies. And that miracle for me was playing football at SC,” said Olson, who played in a total of three games during his time with the Trojans. “Honestly, I don’t know if I ever would have done that if I kept my eyesight or never had cancer. So for me, being able to play at that school was a pinnacle of everything I’d gone through that had led me there.
“I don’t know what Rowan’s pinnacle is going to be, but there’s going to be miracles that come from this. … There’s a level of excitement to that, just hope and knowing there’s going to be something special that comes from this. For me, it was playing at USC, and I think that’s just indisputable evidence of that. And we’ll see what that is for Rowan.”
As news broke about Rowan’s recovery in recent weeks, Olson said he received a text from current USC coach Lincoln Riley.
“He sent a really, really special message that just let us know he’s praying for us,” Olson said. “Trojan football has helped me get through so much in life. It did last year, is going to this year and for every year to come. And if, Lord willing, Rowan will one day wear that helmet too.”
Former USC long snapper Jake Olson holds son Rowan on the football field at the Coliseum on Sept. 5, 2025.
(Courtesy of the Olson family)
During his family’s visit to the Coliseum last fall, Olson introduced his wife and son to Helton, now the head coach at Georgia Southern, whose team was practicing ahead of its game against the Trojans the next day.
“That alone felt special,” Olson said of meeting up with the coach who had helped change his life. “But then, we were able to walk out onto the exact yard line where I snapped from.
“Standing there with my wife and son, on the very spot where I had shown so much resilience myself, felt like seeing the fruits of ‘Fight On’ in real time. It acted as a reminder and encouragement for why I was still fighting on now through this new cancer journey. It was surreal and sacred at the same time.
“If it weren’t for the Coliseum and USC football, I genuinely don’t know if Audrey or Rowan would be in my life. And if it weren’t for me learning how to fight on through all that it took in order to get to that 3-yard line, I don’t know how I would be fighting on as a father or a husband now. So to have both of them there, on that field, taking it all in for the first time, it meant the world.”
The Cleveland Browns, rumored to be willing to trade down from their No. 6 overall selection in the 2026 NFL draft, did just that Thursday evening when the traded the pick to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cleveland traded the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to the Chiefs, in exchange for the ninth overall pick, as well as pick No. 74 in the third round and No. 148 in the fifth round.
The Browns now hold the No. 9 and No. 24 picks in the first round of the draft. They have a total of 11 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns watch from the sidelines during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
So the Chiefs gave up three picks in making the first trade of the first round.
BROWNS EXECS RAISE EYEBROWS WITH REACTIONS AFTER DRAFTING SHEDEUR SANDERS FOLLOWING HISTORIC SLIDE
And we know what the fan bases of both clubs were thinking prior to the selection:
Chiefs fans were thinking we know something they don’t. And then the Chiefs selected cornerback Mansoor Delane from LSU — a move no doubt forced by the club’s trade of Pro Bowl cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the offseason.
So, the Chiefs fill a major need, assuming Delane is indeed the quality corner they believe.
LSU Tigers CB Mansoor Delane celebrates a defensive stop against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium in South Carolina. (Ken Ruinard/USA TODAY Network)
GREG OLSEN’S ADVICE FOR NFL DRAFT FIRST-ROUND PICKS ON HANDLING HIGH EXPECTATIONS
ESPN’s Mel Kiper didn’t like the pick, by the way. He had Delane as the 14th best player in the draft.
“It was a necessity,” ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, a former NFL defensive back, responded.
Browns fans weren’t thinking that way.
BROWNS MAKE STUNNING KENNY PICKETT TRADE TO RAIDERS AS BACKUP QUARTERBACK ROLE REMAINS WIDE OPEN
They were probably thinking something akin to “We screwed up.”
This is understandable because they’re Browns fans and this could have been the Browns Browning.
Well, the Browns, moving down three slots, gave up a shot to draft linebacker Sonny Styles of Ohio State to the Washington Commanders, receiver Jordyn Tyson to the New Orleans Saints and then the Browns got their chance with the newly acquired No. 9 pick:
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Offensive tackle Spencer Fano of Utah.
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 24, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Fano is good. And he makes the Browns offensive line instantly better because he’s going to likely start at left tackle for them.
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So what will Browns fans think of this pick?
They’ll probably wonder why the Browns didn’t pick Miami’s Francis Mauigoa, who went with the No. 10 pick to the New York Giants and promised “to die for” Jaxson Dart if necessary. They’ll wonder this because Browns fans expect the worst.
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Cancer left him blind. When his son was diagnosed, ex-USC long snapper found Trojans had his back again