Going Pro At 16

(CBS)  As he suits up, Bobby Convey looks like he's getting ready for a high school soccer game. But he's preparing to strut his stuff in front of 20,000 fans in Washington's RFK Stadium.

This night, Bobby is in the starting lineup for DC United. "You don't just come out here to be on a professional team to sit on the bench," he says.

At age 16, Convey was a first-round draft selection by DC United. There were 45,000 people at his first game. He turned 17 last month.

"Everyone thinks I have a lot of pressure. But I am just having fun," says Convey.

Convey holds bragging rights to being the youngest player ever signed by a major league soccer team. "Now it is just that I can play with some of the guys that I always looked up to," he says.

But this rather shy teen-ager isn't too quick to grab attention. "Everyone on the team deserves just as much attention as I am getting because I really haven't done anything yet. I am just taking it as it is; I am taking it day by day," he says.

In a sport dominated by foreign-born players, he's a Philadelphia native from a family of athletes. "My dad was an all American honorable mention in basketball. My grandpop played soccer. All my mom's brothers played soccer," he says.

Convey played varsity soccer in the 8th grade and graduated to World Cup level at age 14. In 1998, he was named 1998 Philadelphia High School Player of the Year, and was All-State. He also was NSCAA High School All-American the same year, and again in 1999.

According to United General Manager Kevin Payne, Convey has got the skill and the smarts to be a major contributor to the sport. "When the balls get rolled out and the whistle blows, he fits rights in. He is just another player," says Payne.

Although this teen-ager traded in the comforts of home for the rigors of the road, he's determined to continue his schooling. "I am definitely going to finish up," he says. "That is one thing that my parents and my club and my agent have all talked about and that is important to me."

For now, his parents watch from the sidelines as their young son mixes it up with men twice his age. "I think he is doing a great job; I am really proud of him," says his mom.

"The future is limitless for him. He could end up being one of the best American players ever," says Payne.