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You’ve had to have read those pro-athlete interviews where the writer describes the subject, the superstar hero, as just another guy. He’s just like you and me, they say. Let’s be honest, most of these guys aren’t like you and me and are anything but ordinary, which is precisely why they are pro athletes, and why we are writing stories about them and wanting to hear about their anything but just-another-guy lives. That is unless of course by ‘just another guy,’ you mean just another guy whose father, two uncles, and grandfather (not to mention a little brother) all played professional sports. If that is what you mean, then okay, Taylor Twellman is just another guy.

“My dad’s side was the soccer family,” Taylor told me a few days before Sunday’s MLS Eastern Conference finals. “And I grew up with a bit of baseball. My uncle and my father played in the NASL. My dad played for ten years, he had the longest [career] of all of them. And then my mom’s side of the family is the one where I think a lot of my god-given ability came from. My grandfather played for the Yankees, Tigers, and St. Louis Browns. And my uncle is on the PGA Tour… and my little brother plays for San Jose.”

The words jealous and destiny come to mind. Jealous, because even if you didn’t end up as talented as Taylor–say you were the Danny DeVito of the Twellman gene pool–being born into that family is at least good for some sweet event tickets to something. And destiny, because if there is a guy out there that was more destined to end up where he did than Taylor, well, his name is Barry Bonds. The father-son pro sports combo is nothing new or shocking; there are plenty of examples, but the grandfather-father-uncle-uncle-son-brother thing is at least unusual if not on the endangered species list.

After Taylor was done with listing all the pro teams that hang like ornaments on his family tree, the obvious question I had to bring the discussion back to him was whether or not he thinks his family experience helped him get to where he is (which come next week will be playing for the MLS Cup).

“Obviously when I was younger,” Taylor remembered, “[they taught me] the little things like taking care of your body. But I think If anything sticks out in my mind between my dad, my uncle and the Tour, and my grandfather in baseball - number one, it’s respect the game. If you sit down with them and see pictures of my grandfather playing with Joe DiMaggio, my dad playing against Pele–you sit there and you’re ten years old–it’s hard to realize and see what was going on at that time. So to hear them speak and be humble and you see my friends realize how humble my dad was and obviously my grand father - I try to keep that aspect in my life.“

Life lessons at the Twellman house were lessons of sport. What’s a kid to do? How do you settle on a sport? At some point, every multi-sport kid knows time becomes the issue. You have to chose a sport. Or sometimes the sport chooses you. And the latter was the case with Taylor, whose soccer-dad pushed baseball on him at an early age, interspersed with basketball and golf.

“I grew up in a family where you just played sports,” Taylor described to me. “It didn’t matter which one, and I think it benefited me in the long run.”

It turns out soccer wasn’t even on his radar until high school. “It just kind of ended up going,” is how he put it, a tone in his throat told me he’s replaying a highlight video in his mind. “My freshman year at Maryland, I was on a baseball scholarship, and somehow soccer just continuously kept coming up. Whether it was under-20 World Cups, the Olympic team. Whatever it was, something kept interfering with baseball and I kept deciding towards soccer. But I think the definitive moment was senior year of high school. I was offered a contract by the Kansas City Royals to play baseball and I didn’t even think twice. My answer was no, and I think at that point I really thought that soccer was gonna be the way to go.”

Saying no to Major League Baseball - there’s one way to show soccer is on the rise. How many kids would have made that decision? I have a hard time believing it was that easy for Taylor, but then again, at 25, he’s this year’s Golden Boot recipient (given to the leading scorer in MLS). So, obviously there was some foresight there. And American soccer is better for it.

Having said no to baseball, Taylor then said ‘no more’ to college, left Maryland after his sophomore year and signed a contract with 1860 Munich. Listening to Taylor tell his European story, it’s hard not to think about Landon Donovan’s experience on that side of the pond. “It was very similar to Landon in a sense,” he admitted. “I think we both just wanted to play. I was 20 years old. The youngest guy on the first team that was playing was 25, and I just didn’t see it coming. And another part was September 11th happened. I had a choice to resign, and for some reason, home was calling.”

And so he came back to his home country, getting the playing time he wanted and making the most of it. He saw the European game, and now has been back in the American game. I figured it was time for that question: so what is American Soccer?

“Athletic,” Quickly, like a dart it came from his mouth. “And I only think that comes to mind right off the bat because I think our country prides itself on the tremendous athletes we’ve had in all types of sports, and I think we’re starting to use that to our advantage in the sport of soccer. For me it’s been a huge part of my family. I grew up always being around soccer, American soccer. To answer that question, it’s kind of different for me now. Back in the day, Americans were still having trouble playing in their own domestic league. The NSAL only had 3 Americans per roster and now MLS only allows 4 foreigners.” Searching for a complete answer, Taylor finished his thought. “For me,” he said, “American soccer has kind of been a grass roots kind of movement, just continuously trying to improve. I lived it through my dad and now I’m living it for myself, so hopefully my kids will be better off for it.”

Better off than Taylor is saying quite a bit. Watching the pesky striker play is like a motorboat out of control. The legs are the always spinning outboard motor with the throttle locked forward. He isn’t the tallest kid or the fastest kid, which makes it all the more amazing to see him fight and scrap and always seem to end up with the ball at his feet in front of the net. How does he do it? Does he think about dribbling to the keeper or picking out a corner when he cocks and fires? Is it just instinct or is he cognizant of where he is and what he is doing?

“All of those intertwine with me,” Taylor answered. “You know, you hear baseball players say that on the homeruns you don’t even feel the ball hit your bat. Scoring a goal is very similar in the sense where the most times you have success is when the instincts take over and you just play. And when you start to think about and all that its where you come into trouble. I think for me, I just let my instincts take control, hit it hard and on goal, and good things happen. People ask me to describe it and it’s hard. It’s kind of a blur.”

“I bet people ask a lot of the same questions, stupid ones,” I said. “Oh yeah,” Taylor responded. Just like the questions American fans have to answer on what seems like a daily basis, imagine if you’re a professional American player–you can’t just give them the finger or ignore them like the fans can–and have to be polite and answer them again and again and… “Taylor, why is there so little scoring in soccer?” “Taylor, why does nobody care about soccer?”

“It’s funny you ask this,” Taylor laughed, “because I had an interview two weeks ago and I was thinking the same thing. It’s something about the question of “is the sport ever gonna grow?” [It] kind of rubs me the wrong way. I mean obviously it is. Obviously we’ve gone from a 1998 World Cup to a 2002 World Cup, and improved. And the main reason of that is Major league Soccer. You know we’re signing TV deals that are good now; there are highlights on Sportscenter, and you know all the questions are coming from people who have kids who all play a hundred soccer games a year. I’m like just look in your house. How many soccer games have you been to in your family? The sport’s gonna grow.

Being a forward, it’s obvious Taylor is bombarded about the lack of scoring, often from guys who don’t understand the game. Sooner or later, Taylor figures, they are going to have to cave in and watch a game and realize that this is a sport worth paying attention to.

Listen to who Taylor thinks needs to do just that.

After laughing about how much of an idiot Rome is, I realize I have to ask him another one of those questions he’s had to have heard a lot in the last few weeks. But I figure it’s one he likely will never be sick of talking about, so I ask him. After all, how many times do you score your first goal for your country?

“It was a big feeling – a great feeling,” Taylor said, the smile obvious even through a phone. “I knew I only had a couple of chances with substitutions and stuff. I knew if I could get a couple starts under my belt I could feel more comfortable and score a goal. You kind of have to clear your conscience. You actually need to not have a conscience. Goals are going to be taken away from you, goalies are gonna make great saves, the ball is gonna hit the post. It’s just a matter of consistently getting chances. And did I think a couple of those goals were stolen? Yeah, but I knew if I kept getting chances one was going to go in.”

And it did. I remember attending the post-game press conference in Foxboro, at the Revolution’s home stadium no less, listening to Bruce talk about his young striker. Taylor was sitting off to the side in the darkness. His elbows were on his knees, his head was in his hands. I couldn’t tell if he was sad, tired, relieved or what.

“I was just taking in the moment,” Taylor said, letting me into that intimate moment. “I was thinking how if Bruce hadn’t given me another shot, I might not have been in there talking to you guys. The other part is a lot of relief. They always say getting the first one is the hardest one, and once you get the first one you can relax and get back to playing soccer. It was a really fun night. And then I had to get right back at it on Saturday against Chicago. So it was kind of like enjoy it Friday night but get over it as soon as you can.”

Enjoying his time playing with the US MNT has not always been easy for Taylor, who has had to make the most of precious few minutes over the course of qualifying. He said he understands the burden to choose between deserving players, but would love to fulfill one of his dreams. Bruce, if you’re reading this, Taylor would love to play with Landon.

“I played with him this year in the [MLS] all-star game for 60 minutes,” he said. “And it was an absolute pleasure. He is finding you and all you have to do is put it on net. I’d love to play with Landon and see what happens. It’d be awesome.”

Awesome is a word thrown around often when those two names are mentioned. And next week, we’ll get to see them together again, but not as Taylor has dreamt it. The Galaxy and Revolution will be squaring off in Dallas next week, battling for the MLS Cup. Which of the two all-stars has the better game up front will likely figure large in deciding the game, and maybe, hopefully, convince Arena that we need to see a bit more of these kids on the field together for team USA.

postscript

Landon became the all-time leading scorer in MLS playoff history with his two-goal showing last week, while Clint Dempsey scored the lone goal on Sunday to push New England into the Cup Final. To watch them and several other US MNT stars compete for the Cup, tune in November 13th, at 3:30pm on ABC. And set your VCR pr DVR for the day prior to that at 11:30am to make sure you don’t miss the US MNT at Scotland.