Hahnemann, the Car Mechanic

• The Independent, Monday, September 24, 2007 4:15 PM

Marcus Hahnemann is a jack of all trades. In his second season in the English Premier League with Reading, it's the 35-year-old American whose job it is to protect the Royals' goal and help keep them in the elite.

But his popularity in the English media is based in part on his off-the-field interests. He is a well-known gun collector and heavy metal music enthusiast. What fans may not know is that he is also as adept under the hood as he is between the posts.

The Independent tells the story of a Reading fan whose car broke and who asked Hahnemann if he could use his cell phone to call for service. Hahnemann insisted upon taking the fan to his car, which he then fixed himself. "It wasn't a huge deal," he says. "When I heard this guy complaining, 'Oh, my car won't start,' I said to him to hop in and I would drive him back to the lot where it was. It just needed a jump start, and I had my cable in the car, so we just fixed it."

Read the whole story at The Independent »