![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/twellmankraft.jpg?resize=300%2C247\" "\\"Taylor")
<\/a>New England Revolution Investor\/Operator (and Patriots owner) Robert Kraft was on hand to honor Taylor Twellman on Wednesday (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA\/aduama.com)<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate to end a career because of an injury,\u201d said Twellman. \u201cI didn\u2019t have a choice, unfortunately. When you\u2019re told that if you want to live your life and be healthy and soccer needs to stop (as a result), the decision is made for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
That decision did not come easy for Twellman. After suffering a concussion against Los Angeles Galaxy back on August 30, 2008, the face of the franchise worked hard over the next two years to come back. He tried acupuncture and sitting in darkened rooms for six months \u2013 anything it would take to alleviate the symptoms – but it was all for naught, despite his best efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hardest part of this injury is that I can do zero about it,\u201d said Twellman. \u201cAnd that is the most humbling thing that\u2019s ever happened to me in life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twellman then reminisced about his childhood and career. He did all he could to keep it light, despite the obvious sadness that pervaded the room. He thanked his family, as well as the Robert and Jonathan Kraft.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t about representing a soccer organization,\u201d said Twellman. \u201cIt was about representing a family that stood for hard work, dedication, and loyalty. It was an honor to represent (this) family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twellman leaves behind a career that, quite frankly, has made him one of the greatest American soccer players of all time. In addition to his 101 career goals, the striker from St. Louis also earned 30 caps and scored six goals with the U.S. National Team.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u201cTaylor Twellman has been the face of the Revolution since joining us in 2002,\u201d said Revolution Investor\/Operator Robert K. Kraft. \u201cHis heart, grit and determination have been a model for other players, and he\u2019s played a tremendous role in establishing a new standard of success and consistency for not only our team, but also around the league.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s little doubt that Twellman was the standard of success in MLS. A five-time All-Star and the 2005 MLS MVP also led his clubs to the MLS Cup four times in six seasons. He was the driving force behind the club\u2019s four Eastern Conference titles. Suffice to say, Twellman\u2019s brilliant career, was cut short far too soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was lucky enough to witness just about all of it,\u201d said Revolution keeper Matt Reis, who was Twellman\u2019s teammate from 2003-2010. \u201cTaylor went about it playing the right way, he gave it his all and you could see that out on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the unfavorable cards dealt to him in the end, the striker refused to be bitter about it. Instead, he reflected on the memorable times he experienced in New England.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had the time my life here,\u201d said Twellman. \u201cI did something that I love to do, and I got paid for it. It was the greatest gift that God gave me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Taylor Twellman, the greatest Revolution player of them all, called it a career before friends and family Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/twellmanconferencefeature.jpg?fit=490%2C225&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1458"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1481,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions\/1481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}