It’s just before 5 p.m. on a Tuesday night and I am sipping vodka at a corner bar in Chicago with Mike Magee.



Vodka isn’t my usual drink of choice, but we are sampling Sneaky Fox—a vodka brand Magee launched on Sept. 18, 2018, a date chosen because it represents his jersey numbers with the Chicago Fire (9) and LA Galaxy (18), respectively. It’s an appropriate connection; his venture into the spirits world has given Magee a much-needed competitive outlet to fill the void that was missing after he stepped away from the game after the 2016 season.



In the years and months that followed his 2016 retirement, the 2013 MLS MVP contemplated what would come next. Soccer had been his life since he was a child. A hip injury all but ended his stellar career at the age of 32. How could he ever begin to find something to replace it?



“You’ve dedicated your life to something,” he says between sips of vodka lemonade, an LA Galaxy hat...