Flashback 2010: An underrated goal from the assist king himself

I was hoping to do some flashbacks this year to look back 10 years to 2010, when I was in my second year as the radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Houston Dynamo. Now with sports shut down and so much of life seemingly on hold, it seems like the right time to aim for a series of retrospectives, looking back at some memorable or quirky moments from my career in sports.

May 8, 2010
There won't be too much more 2010 content as part of this flashback series, but it's been 10 years since I called one of my favorite sneaky-good goals, and I never get tired of excuses to watch this thing.

I mean, who scores a goal like this? Who runs onto a through ball, slides, and THEN lobs the keeper with his first touch? I don't recall this getting any momentum for Goal of the Week, and I don't think you'll see it on an MLS retrospective of best lobs, but I just think it was a special play. I know it was against Chivas USA, and I know Zach Thornton in goal was not known for his mobility, but this goal has always stuck out in my memory banks as being unusual and skillful and awesome. So please ignore the decidedly low-quality video footage and enjoy:

As you've figured out by now, It was scored by Brad Davis, one of the great assist men in MLS history, and a guy with whom I had a history. Davis was just 20, when I interned with the MetroStars in 2002, two years older than I, and although he was a hotshot rookie on the club, he was also one of the less intimidating presences for me, a college freshman. I rooted for him from the start, from the MetroStars to the Dallas Burn to the San Jose Earthquakes and then through the move to Houston, and six years later, when our paths crossed again, he was still making my life easier.

I joined the Dynamo in 2008, managing the team web site and working in the communications department, so my job included some media relations duties. Once I began traveling with the team to every game as radio broadcaster in 2009, those duties ramped up and I was often tasked with connecting reporters and players for interviews. It's a relatively simple task, but when your approach to almost any player elicits a groan and a, "What now, Yardley?" it's not always a fun one.

Brad was one of the guys who made it easy. Oh, don't get me wrong: He'd give us crap. Seeing a staffer walking toward him after practice, he'd yell out, "WHAT!?" in mock anger or walk right past with his head turned before doubling back to hear out the request. Outside the locker rooms at Robertson Stadium, if somebody flicked your ear and then scampered through the doors, it was probably Brad.

But he also said, "Yes," and, "Just have them call me," and, "Whatever you need." Words that made my life easier, all the time. An easy choice to go to when a media outlet asked who was available and I didn't want a headache by asking the same guy twice (or three times, etc.) It helped, of course, that Brad was a starter and, eventually, a durable one.

He will always be known, of course, for assists, particularly from his left-footed dead-ball service. But there were other, subtler parts to his game (did you have Brad Davis pegged for the first elastico in MLS Cup history in 2006??), and occasionally he wound up on the scoresheet for some of those as well.

As the guy who dealt with statistics in a league with second assists, I even got to play a part, which brings me to one of my favorite Brad Davis stories.

I was in the coaches' office at Robertson Stadium on a training day, probably bugging Dominic Kinnear for content for the gameday magazine and taking good-natured ribbing from everybody in the room. Talking about some recent game, I mentioned that Brad had multiple assists in the game. Dom said, "Brad, really? He just had the one, from the free kick." And I responded, "Yeah, but he got a second assist on [so-and-so's] goal. I had to call the league to make sure he got credit for it."

"Second assist, c'mon," came the reply. "What are you doing pushing more numbers for Brad, anyway? Did he put you up to it? Who cares? What in the world has he ever done for you?" (Yes, there was an expletive in there. Probably more than one, knowing Dom.)

I just kind of shrugged and said, "Hey, it's my job," which of course Dom knew perfectly well. He always made sure we remembered that the players came first and was quick to put me in my place if my actions didn't reflect that. ... But he didn't want Brad or anybody else to worry about statistics or get a big head, either. Maybe the greatest Dynamo compliment you could give was if a player was, "honest" in his work ethic.

Fortunately for me, Brad popped his head into the coaches' office a few minutes later, and I asked him about doing an interview that I needed to get crossed off my list. He quickly said, "Yeah, sure, have him give me a call," and moved on with his day. I turned to Dom and the room and said, "You asked what has he ever done for me? That, right there. Huge help."

So maybe I have a soft spot for Brad Davis, but despite his MVP nominations and his spot on the 2014 World Cup roster and his No. 3 ranking in MLS history in assists, I still felt he was underrated at times. As a technical player, as a versatile player, as a well-rounded player. Everybody focused on the dead-ball delivery, and it was incredible. But he was much more than that, and he even changed his eating and work habits mid-career to become fitter and perform at a higher level.

This goal was far from his stereotypical skillset. If you watch the play again, he and another orange jersey make the same run, chasing a well-weighted Brian Mullan ball behind the back line, and Davis actually had to out-run (or at least not lose too much ground to) Dominic Oduro, of all people, just to get to the ball first. Fortunately, Mr. Freaky Fast himself backed off and let Brad take a run at the thing.

Then the early slide is, to me, the most underrated part of the play. It seems to accelerate Davis and allow him to beat the center back (Dario Delgado, in his only year in MLS; I had to look him up) to the ball, while also leaving Thornton in no-man's land. It was timed perfectly, allowing for the scooped finish as the ball was already bouncing up.

You just don't see this play often, and it's one I always felt got lost in the shuffle but deserves a little limelight.