When we talk about the Seattle Sounders, discussions generally center on the team's brightest stars and most prominent leaders, the likes of Nico Lodeiro, Jordan Morris and Brad Evans.
But an entertaining new feature story in the Seattle Times makes it clear that we should all be spending a lot more time on Chad Marshall.
The Times' Matt Pentz spoke with several of his teammates to learn just how valuable the camera-shy center back is to his team, both on the field and in the locker room. And there is no shortage of clip-worthy quotes and anecdotes.
“If Chad would have played abroad anywhere else in the world, he would have been a national-team mainstay,” said Seattle's veteran striker Herculez Gomez. “When it’s all said and done, they’re going to name it the Chad Marshall Defender of the Year award. That’s how good he’s been in this league.
“There’s not one foreign player I’ve come across that hasn’t asked why Chad isn’t a mainstay with the national team. I’ll just leave it at that.”
Or how about this one from Evans, Marshall's longtime friend and teammate in both Seattle and Columbus:
“Chad is always naked. That’s it. He never has clothes on. That’s what sticks out to me. It’s not even the pranks. It’s just the nakedness and dancing around naked. That’s Chad’s intangible: Naked.”
The full story is a must-read as the Sounders get set to host Colorado in Tuesday's Western Conference Championship first leg (10 pm ET, FS1, TSN1, TSN3, RDS2).
