"I WON!" Alex Freeman used to scream walking into the house as a kid, beating his siblings at nothing in particular. That competitive streak eventually got him to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But it was his sister's TikTok comment that made him famous.
In June 2026, Diamond Spaulding — Alex's stepsister through his father Antonio's relationship with Mekevia Hawkins — dropped a casual comment on a TikTok video ahead of the USMNT's match against Paraguay. She mentioned her "little brother" was playing, identified him only by his jersey number (No. 16), and moved on. The internet did not move on. Fans tracked him down, the nickname "Diamond's Little Brother" spread across TikTok, and even the official USMNT account joined the joke.
Diamond, who competed in track and field at Texas A&M, had actually been the recognizable one in the family long before Alex made it professionally. The nickname existed before the viral moment. "He's a good sport about it and finds it all funny, so I feel a little better about the ongoing joke," she told PEOPLE.
An NFL legacy, a different sport
The Freeman name carries weight in American sports. Alex's father is Antonio Freeman — Green Bay Packers wide receiver, Super Bowl XXXI champion, 1998 Pro Bowler. Growing up with that surname in South Florida, the assumption was always that Alex would end up on a football field. He had other ideas.
It was actually his mom Rochelle and stepfather Jake Hinkle — a Manchester United fan — who introduced him to soccer at age 4 and coached him early on. Antonio was skeptical. "For Black men, I didn't really see a pathway for him in soccer, because there previously hadn't been a lot of color in soccer," he told ESPN in June 2026. Alex changed his mind. " turned me into a believer. Not in him, but in the process and in the system."
What Antonio did pass on wasn't technique — it was mentality. "The advice he gave me was just about hard work, about discipline, about stuff I need to do off the field," Alex said. An NFL mindset applied to soccer. Not a bad foundation.
The family structure that built him
Alex's parents separated shortly after his birth, and both built new families. Rochelle married Jake Hinkle. Antonio partnered with Mekevia Hawkins. What could have been a fractured upbringing became, by all accounts, the opposite.
"Knowing that my stepdad and dad got along, and my mom, knowing that we're all a big family, it just meant so much to me," Alex said. He's been especially vocal about what Jake's role meant to him. "I feel like as a stepdad, it's kind of hard to step into that role of being there for a son that's not biologically yours. And I feel like he kind of made that step."
He also has two younger brothers, Tyler and Josh, both into soccer. "I feel like they're really the ones that I play for the most because they're the ones who look up to me as an example," he told Fox Sports.
Then there's Diamond, who grew up alongside him through their parents' blended relationship. "I never had siblings before Alex," she told PEOPLE. "He wanted to master everything and win at everything. Even walking in the house, he would yell, 'I WON!'"
At the 2026 World Cup, representing the USMNT, he's still trying to do exactly that. Diamond's just got more people watching now.
