Ahead of the 2016 MLS SuperDraft in Baltimore, we take a look at the different draft day stories from current Quakes players. From getting the news in a college classroom to shaking Don Garber's hand on the podium, each story shows the beauty of how these players started their careers in MLS.
When you’re selected with the first overall pick in any draft in professional sports, you join a sacred fraternity of athletes who boast the everlasting memory of, basically, being ‘number one.’
The roaring applause, the flashing camera bulbs – Earthquakes defender Marvell Wynne experienced it all as the first overall pick in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft by the New York/New Jersey Metro Stars.
The draft process for Marvell, however, was far from smooth in the months leading up to the draft.
Becoming the number one pick wasn’t even a thought at the beginning of his sophomore year at UCLA. He was just hoping to get back on the pitch for the Bruins after suffering a foot injury.
“It was really nerve-racking for me. I had been out eight weeks because I had a stress fracture in my foot, so I couldn’t even participate in the College Cup,” Wynne said. “At the combine in LA, I thought I had a decent showing. It was not too bad, but it wasn’t too good. I don’t think it really hurt my draft positioning by any means.”
Though humble about his performance at the combine, teams around the league quickly took notice of Wynne. In fact, they were so impressed with his performance that they projected him to go number one in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft in Pennsylvania.
“There were rumors that I would go number one overall, so there were a bunch of cameras following me around,” Wynne explained. “They knew when I was coming out of my hotel and heading to the draft, so I was always being followed around.”
Wynne heard the rumors swirling in the draft room, but he still hadn’t received word from Chivas USA that he was going to be their pick at number one.
“I was completely in the dark about who was going to pick me,” Wynne admitted. “Chivas USA was set to pick at number one and Bob Bradley was the coach. The rumor was that I was going to stay in LA. When I heard that, I was like, ‘Okay, cool. I can work with that.’
“Out of nowhere I hear, ‘There has been a trade. The MetroStars have made a trade with Chivas USA for the number one pick.’”
Soon after the trade was made, Mo Johnston and the MetroStars selected Wynne as the first pick in the SuperDraft, ending all of the speculation that surrounded the start of his professional career.
You can say Marvell was happy that the wait was finally over.
“To put it in one word, I would say ‘AHH!’” he screamed. “More or less, I don’t know how many ‘A’s’ or ‘H’s’ you want to put in there.
“It was excitement. It was nervousness. It was joy. It was fear. I walked up the stage to shake [Don] Garber’s hand, gave my speech and tried not to mess up. I didn’t prepare a speech at all, so I just went up there and made sure I didn’t forget to thank anyone.”
Once you shake the commissioner’s hand and give your speech as the first overall selection, you are instantly the most popular man in the room.
Just ask Marvell.
“Right after I left the stage, the professional life began because cameras and microphones instantly surrounded me,” Wynne said. “I had never done that before. The first autograph I gave out was signing Johnny Metro’s head. That had to be the craziest experience that I had that day. After that, I refrained from signing any other parts of skin.”
It has been 10 years since Garber announced Wynne as the number pick in the SuperDraft. Looking back on that eventful day in Pennsylvania, Marvell has one word of advice – Goosfraba.
“Relax,” Wynne said. “This is only the beginning. Of course you’re going to be nervous with all of these emotions going through you. In the end, you just need to relax, enjoy the moment and just take it for what it is.”
