Edson Buddle (born May 21, 1981 in New Rochelle, New York) is an American soccer player, who currently plays striker for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer.

Buddle played one year of college soccer at State Fair Community College , where he led State Fair to the 1999 NJCAA Division I National Championship. Buddle began his professional career in 2000, when he signed with the Long Island Rough Riders of the A-League. Buddle helped the team win the Northeast Division, scoring 11 goals and 4 assists, and was a finalist for the A-League Rookie of the Year Award.

His performance in the A-League attracted the interest of MLS, and Edson was selected 27th overall in the 2001 MLS SuperDraft by the Crew. Buddle played very little in his rookie year, only 556 minutes, but managed to show his talent in his brief playing time, scoring three goals and two assists. The next year, at the age of 21, Buddle established himself as one of the league's best young strikers, scoring 9 goals and 5 assists in only 1304 minutes while helping the Crew to a U.S. Open Cup win. Plagued by injury troubles, Buddle only started 16 games for the Crew the next year, but again was a prolific scorer when healthy, registering 9 goals and 4 assists. The same pattern repeated itself in 2004, as Buddle missed significant time to injury, but still scored 11 goals and 2 assists in 20 starts.

Although he is certainly a promising player for the United States national team, Buddle's injuries have made it difficult for him to break into the squad. He has figured for the U-20 and U-23 teams, playing in the 2001 World Youth Championship. However, he currently only has one cap with the senior team, which he earned March 23, 2003 in a friendly against Venezuela.

Buddle is named after Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé. His father, Winston Buddle , a former professional soccer player born in Jamaica, chose the name.

See also

• List of current MLS players