How are you doing? Healthy and somewhat sane, I hope. These are strange, anxious times. I don’t mean to scare you, but COVID-19 can affect you and yours. It happened to me. Do what you must to protect yourself and your community.
That’s important and urgent, but it’s also exhausting. We need diversions, something to keep our anxious minds quiet. I’m desperate to think about or talk about soccer. I miss it. And because we all miss it, Extratime driven by Continental is filling the live-match void by naming our Mount Rushmore for every single MLS team over the coming weeks.
On Thursday, we tackled D.C. United, Toronto FC and the Houston Dynamo. You can read about who we chiseled in club history below. You can listen to the full discussions via the player below or, better yet, subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platform via these links (iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music) so you don’t miss a show.
Some decisions were easy. Others were agonizing. Feel free to disagree and @ us or drop your choices in the comment sections. Before you get all riled up, please keep in mind that we did not include coaches or executives in the discussion. They’re honored in other ways. Mount Rushmore* is for players ONLY.
Alright, let’s get to it. We’ll be announcing the next two clubs to get the pantheon treatment on Saturday on Extratime’s Twitter account!
*I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the history of Mount Rushmore is, like much of human history, problematic. You can read about why here (and in many other reputable sources).
D.C. United
Jaime Moreno
D.C. United are not D.C. United without their Bolivian talisman. He’s the club leader in games (329), goals (131) and assists (102), one of only two MLS players to hit the century mark for both goals and assists. More importantly to this exercise, Moreno was the ever-present face of D.C. (well, apart from that short stint with the MetroStars) for 12 of the 13 trophies in club history. Legend personified.
Marco Etcheverry
"El Diablo" is the best player in D.C. United history — in my opinion, but you’d be hard-pressed to find someone close to the club who disagrees — and arguably the most talented No. 10 in league history. From 1996 to 1999, the Bolivian was absolutely absurd (21 G, 66 A in the regular season and 3 G, 13 A in the playoffs) as the club won three MLS Cups, two Supporters’ Shields, a US Open Cup and the Concacaf Champions Cup as well as Copa Interamericana.
Eddie Pope
At his peak, Pope might have been the best defender in MLS history. I only say “might” because I don’t really feel like litigating the all-time list right now. It doesn’t matter. He was that good. Go back and watch the tape, both with D.C. United and the US men’s national team. Injuries disrupted his career at times, but he scored trophy-winning goals and stopped them on the other end of the field.
Ben Olsen
Choosing a fourth for D.C. was an impossible task. We went with Olsen after much discussion because of, at this point, his lifetime of service, both as a player and a coach. He lives and raises his family in the District. He’s Black & Red through and through, even if the supporters haven’t always been in love with his methods on the sidelines. Other candidates: Christian Gomez, Raul Diaz Arce, Bill Hamid, Jeff Agoos.
Toronto FC
Michael Bradley
There are two distinct on-field eras for Toronto FC: dumpster fire and model, trophy-winning club. Credit to Tim Leiweke and Tim Bezbatchenko for the Bloody Big Deal shift, but none of it would have happened without Bradley taking a chance and making the jump to the True North. The trophies, the all-time seasons, the CCL run speak for themselves, but it’s the words of the supporters that truly express his place in club history: Your city. Your legacy. Our captain forever.
Sebastian Giovinco
Until Carlos Vela showed up, no player in MLS history could sniff the Atomic Ant’s single-season brilliance. He changed the league in 2015, no exaggeration. Bradley was the rudder of the ship, but Giovinco was the wind in the sails as Toronto FC transformed themselves and made history by winning the treble in 2017 then nearly making CCL history the next spring. That free kick against Tigres … still one of my favorite MLS moments ever!
Jozy Altidore
Quick, who was Toronto FC’s most impactful player during that 2017 MLS Cup run? You can probably guess who I think it was. Injuries have sometimes kept Altidore from being at his unplayable best up north, but there’s no doubt he’s one of the three central figures that transformed the club and finally made Toronto winners in MLS. He can be a divisive figure, but there’s no doubt Altidore’s face ought to be carved in stone for the Reds.
Jonathan Osorio
In the words of Matt Doyle, “Nobody from the era of losing can be considered.” Osorio straddles the divide, but you can’t count it against him. The Pride of Brampton was Extratime’s choice — over Dwayne De Rosario, Maurice Edu, Danny Dichio, Terry Dunfield and Jim Brennan — because of what he represents: the city and the club at the deepest level. You’ve got to have a Canadian here, and Osorio is already the all-time appearance leader, with some massive goals in big moments to remember as well.
Houston Dynamo
Brian Ching
We let Calen Carr lead all Dynamo decisions — it only seemed fair – and The Big Kahuna was the first name he added to the list. Ching was more than just a scorer. He was a facilitator. A tone-setter. A security blanket. A big-game player. He’s also still in Houston, the same rock in the community that he was during his playing days (two MLS Cup wins, two runners-up). As a player and as a man, he’s a shoo-in here.
Dwayne De Rosario
Two MLS Cups in back-to-back years immediately upon moving to Houston. That doesn’t happen for the Dynamo without DeRo, MLS Best XI in both of the 2006 and 2007 championship seasons. He was an icon, both for the golazos and the celebrations that inevitably followed. You could argue for De Rosario’s inclusion on San Jose's and Toronto’s Mount Rushmore, but you can’t argue with the collective results in Houston, where he was unquestionably the club’s best player at their peak.
Brad Davis
Davis is destined to be underappreciated, just like Steve Ralston before him, despite being third all-time in MLS assists. He was much more than a cultured left foot, though that’s what jumps to mind for many. An important member of the MLS Cup-winning teams, he took on more responsibility following DeRo’s departure and was a regular All-Star and 2011 MVP candidate in the years that followed. He’s a big reason the Dynamo were at the top of the league for years.
Ricardo Clark
Stu Holden. Eddie Robinson. Pat Onstad. Geoff Cameron. Bobby Boswell. Wade Barrett. Boniek Garcia. There are lots of names that deserve a shout, but we picked Ricardo Clark, who was there for almost all the good years — a European move broke up his run in Houston – and some lean ones, too. Like Davis, he’s destined to be underappreciated in a league-wide sense, but never in Houston.
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