Tim Howard Tourette's Syndrome: Team USA World Cup Star Goalie

Tourette's was once considered a rare and bizarre syndrome, most often associated with the exclamation of obscene words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks (coprolalia), but this symptom is present in only a small minority of people with Tourette's.[1] Tourette's is no longer considered a rare condition, but it may not always be correctly identified because most cases are classified as mild. Between 1 and 10 children per 1,000 have Tourette's;[2] as many as 10 per 1,000 people may have tic disorders,[3][4] with the more common tics of eye blinking, coughing, throat clearing, sniffing, and facial movements.

When 60 Minutes talked to him a few months later in Manchester, on the eve of United’s home opener, his Tourette’s symptoms were more pronounced. He has always refused to take medication for fear it might dull his senses and reflexes.

"It's just a battle of the will, your willpower versus what your mind is telling your body to do," says Howard. "And so it's about suppressing those physical movements, those vocalizations. It's tough to explain, I suppose."

But he says he can do it.

"If you told me to sit in a room, and you had a million dollars cash stacked right there and said, 'Don't move, don't twitch, don't do anything,' without a doubt, the million dollars would be mine," says Howard.

But what if somebody is coming toward him, preparing to fire a shot on goal?

"It just doesn't happen. They could be out there by midfield somewhere and I may have a twitch, a tic of the eyes, of the head, of the arm," he says.

"But when they get in there and it's time to go to work, it just doesn't happen. And maybe one day, it will. and maybe I'll get fired for that. I don't know. But I can deal with that, too. I'll just say something was in my eye."

And despite being "in agony" from bruised — maybe broken — ribs, he made six saves to seal the Americans' 1-1 draw with England on Saturday night at the World Cup.

"He's an outstanding success," Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who brought Howard to the English Premier League in 2003, said recently. "We're delighted, because I love the lad. Good lad."