_(cropped).jpg) Twellman on anESPN show in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Taylor Timothy Twellman | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1980-02-29)February 29, 1980 (age 45) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Minneapolis,Minnesota, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| College career | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–1999 | Maryland Terrapins | 43 | (28) | ||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2000–2002 | 1860 Munich II | 36 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2010 | New England Revolution | 174 | (101) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 210 | (108) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1997 | United States U17 | 3 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 1999 | United States U20 | 4 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2008 | United States | 30 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Taylor Timothy Twellman (born February 29, 1980) is an American formersoccer player who played professionally from 1999 to 2010. He now works in the media as a soccer television commentator forMLS Season Pass onApple TV.
Twellman is best known for his play with theNew England Revolution ofMajor League Soccer (MLS) from 2002 to 2009, during which time he scored more goals in MLS than any other player.[1] He was the youngest player to score 100 goals in MLS in 2009 at the age of 29,[2] and is New England's all-time leading goal scorer. Twellman was a five-time MLS all-star and in 2005 was the league MVP.[3] Twellman also earned 30 caps for theUnited States national team, scoring 6 international goals.
Twellman has been active since his retirement in promoting awareness of concussions and working in the media as a color commentator forESPN/ABC until 2023 and forApple TV since 2023.
Taylor was raised inSt. Louis,Missouri, and attendedSaint Louis University High School (SLUH), where he was an all-star athlete inAmerican football,basketball,soccer, andbaseball, during which he was offered a contract by theKansas City Royals baseball team. After graduating from SLUH in 1998, Twellman rejected the offer, electing to play soccer atMaryland on an athletic scholarship.[4] AtMaryland, Twellman played soccer in 1998 and 1999; in 1998 Twellman was named a second-teamAll American for the squad, and in his sophomore 1999 season he finished as a runner-up for both theHermann Trophy and the MAC Player of the Year Award. After only two seasons with the Terrapins, Twellman left college to turn professional.
In 2000, Twellman signed with GermanBundesliga club1860 Munich.[5] He spent two years with the team, but played for the reserve team in Division III, and never played above the reserve level.
Twellman returned to the U.S. when he was drafted second overall by theNew England Revolution in the2002 MLS SuperDraft on February 10, 2002.[6] He made his MLS debut in the Revolution's season opener on March 23, coming on as a 67th minute substitute forÁlex Pineda Chacón in a 3-1 loss to theMetroStars.[7] He scored his first MLS goal, and made his first MLS start, on April 20, 2002, scoring in the 10th minute of a 2-0 victory over the Columbus Crew.[8][9] In Twellman's first season in MLS, he established himself as one of the best players in the league, scoring 23 goals.[10] On May 11, 2002, Twellman scored the first (and second) ever goals atGillette Stadium in MLS league play, in the Revolution's 2-0 win over theDallas Burn.[11] He finished second in league MVP voting, and was named to the 2002MLS Best XI.[3] Twellman scored his first professional hat trick against D.C. United on September 7.[12]
In the 2003 season, despite being beset by a number of injuries, Twellman finished tied with Carlos Ruiz of the L.A. Galaxy for top goalscorer of the league with 15. His production went down in 2004, as he ended up with just nine goals.
Twellman's best MLS season came in 2005, winning both theMajor League Soccer MVP Award andMLS Golden Boot, and finishing the regular season with 17 goals.[13] He was also named to the 2005MLS Best XI.Twellman was the target of transfer talk whenOdd Grenland of Norway reportedly made a $1.2 million bid for him, which MLS rejected. In February 2007, New England announced they had signed Twellman to a four-year contract, reportedly worth $5 million.[14]
In 2007, Twellman won his first title with the Revolution: theUS Open Cup,[15] a season in which he finished third in MLS in goals scored. The Revolution also won the Eastern Conference title, with Twellman scoring a spectacular bicycle kick against the Chicago Fire to secure the Revs' spot in the2007 MLS Cup.[16] Twellman scored the opening goal of the 2007 MLS Cup against Houston Dynamo. However, this would be New England's only goal as they would go on to lose their third straight MLS Cup by a score of 2–1.[17]
In January 2008, EnglishChampionship teamPreston North End attempted to entice Major League Soccer and the New England Revolution to sell Twellman. Preston initially advanced an offer of $1.7 million, but MLS and the team rejected that offer,[18] rejected another offer of $2.5 million, and then rejected another bid for $3 to $3.5 million, which would have been the fourth highest and possibly the second highest transfer fee in MLS history to date.[19][1]
Twellman suffered a neck injury and a seriousconcussion from a mid-air collision againstLos Angeles Galaxy goalkeeperSteve Cronin on August 30, 2008.[20] Twellman played the rest of the 2008 season, but due to lingering symptoms from his whiplash and concussion, he played only two games in 2009. Twellman had planned to make his return during the 2010 season, but he was unable to play that season and was placed on the season-ending injury list. After struggling to find any playing time over the past three seasons in MLS due to his head injury, Twellman announced his retirement from the game at the end of the 2010 MLS season.[21]
Due to having an American father and a mother of Algerian descent, Twellman was eligible to represent theUnited States men's national soccer team as well as theAlgerian national football team.
Twellman began his involvement with the U.S. national program at youth level with the U-17 and U-20 squads.[22] He first gained professional attention after scoring four goals for the U-20 national team at the 1999World Youth Championship while still playing with the University of Maryland.[22] He also represented the United States at the1999 Pan American Games.
After establishing himself in MLS, Twellman made his first appearance with thesenior U.S. national team on November 17, 2002, againstEl Salvador.[22] He struggled to score his first international goal, having several apparent goals waved off for offside infractions. He finally scored againstPanama in a World Cup qualifier on October 12, 2005.[22] He improved his chances for a spot on the2006 World Cup team in a friendly against Norway[23] on January 29, 2006. In the game, he scored the ninthhat trick in U.S. national team history, but was ultimately left off the World Cup roster by coachBruce Arena.[24]
Twellman was selected by new U.S. coachBob Bradley as a member of the U.S. squad for the2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, scoring in a group stage win over El Salvador.[25] Twellman gradually fell out of the national team pool in the following years after a series of concussions sidelined his club career.
Since retirement, Twellman has created the THINKTaylor foundation, a charitable organization regarding sports-related concussions.Twellman has agreed to donate his brain to science after death. His brain could be of use to determine whether multiple concussions cause permanent harm to the brain.[26]
Twellman Soccer provides programs and tools for players, coaches and organizations across the United States.
Twellman has had an active media career after retiring as a player. He joinedESPN/ABC from November 2011 until January 2023 as a soccer analyst,[27][28][29] serving as lead color commentator for their Major League Soccer coverage alongside lead play-by-play commentatorAdrian Healey and laterJon Champion.[30] He also hosted a weekly recap show about the league,MLS Rewind, onESPN+. Twellman called the 2012, 2016, and 2020 European Championships, and in 2014 Twellman was the USMNT lead color commentator in the World Cup in Brazil.[31] He left the network in January 2023 to join Apple's MLS coverage.[27]
Taylor's fatherTim Twellman, and unclesMike Twellman andSteve Twellman, all played professionally in theNorth American Soccer League. Taylor's brother James Twellman played with theSan Jose Earthquakes reserves in 2002. Taylor's grandfather,Jim Delsing, was aMajor League Baseball outfielder in the 1950s for five teams. His uncle is golferJay Delsing.[citation needed]
| Club | Season | League | Open Cup | North America | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| New England Revolution[32] | 2002 | Major League Soccer | 28 | 23 | – | – | 28 | 23 | ||
| 2003 | 22 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 17 | ||
| 2004 | 23 | 9 | 1 | 0 | – | 24 | 9 | |||
| 2005 | 25 | 17 | 1 | 0 | – | 26 | 17 | |||
| 2006 | 32 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 12 | ||
| 2007 | 26 | 16 | 4 | 4 | – | 30 | 20 | |||
| 2008 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 9 | ||
| 2009 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Career total | 174 | 101 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 190 | 109 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2002 | 1 | 0 |
| 2003 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 6 | 4 | |
| 2007 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 30 | 6 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 12, 2005 | Gillette Stadium,Foxborough, United States of America |  Panama | 2-0 | 2-0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | [34] |
| 2 | January 29, 2006 | Dignity Health Sports Park,Carson, United States of America |  Norway | 1-0 | 5-0 | Friendly | [35] |
| 3 | 2-0 | ||||||
| 4 | 4-0 | ||||||
| 5 | February 10, 2006 | AT&T Park,San Francisco, United States of America |  Japan | 3-0 | 3-2 | Friendly | [36] |
| 6 | June 12, 2007 | Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, United States of America |  El Salvador | 3-0 | 4-0 | 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup | [37] |
New England Revolution
United States
Individual
In 2004, Twellman received the inauguralKeough Award, which recognizes the outstanding male soccer player from the St. Louis area.
In 2021 Twellman received the Soccer Legacy award fromThe Sports Museum atTD Garden.[42]
United States squads | |||||||||||||
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