COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – Longtime Colorado Rapids captain Drew Moor knows that he’s among the controversial picks for this year’s AT&T MLS All-Star Game. But the 31-year-old is determined to quell any lingering controversy when he takes the field against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (9 pm ET; Fox Sports 1, UniMás, TSN, RDS).
“There’s been times in the past when I was overlooked, and All-Star games always have controversy,” Moor told reporters earlier in the week. “[11 seasons in MLS] helped with the selection, but it’s something that I’m very proud of. I’m going to take it as an opportunity to be positive about myself, my teammates, my coaches and this organization.”
Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni had a simple reason for Moor’s selection.
“It hasn’t been an All-Star year for any of us,” said Mastroeni, who as the head coach for the host team was faced with the task of rounding out the roster after the Fan XI and Commissioner’s Picks, referring to the Rapids’ rough first half of the season. ”Therefore, it was about selecting a player that has brought a lot to the club over the course of his time, the guy that’s bled and sweat for this club for many years. It was a selection from a bigger-picture perspective.”
All-Star games in any sport are often looked upon as meaningless exhibitions, but don’t tell that to Moor, who has logged 25,166 MLS minutes and whose emotional reaction to learning of his selection was captured by ColoradoRapids.com.
“I think just having the cameras set up and spending some time with some guys I see daily, I just kind of got swept away by the emotions,” Moor said. “I think it showed that being an All-Star meant more to me than what could’ve been predicted or realized.”
It also marked another high point for Moor following an eight-month road to recovery from the first major injury of his career, followed by another three months of trying to re-establish himself as a fixture in Colorado’s lineup. Moor was the Rapids’ “iron man” with at least 20 starts in nine of his 12 seasons and 30 starts in four-straight seasons prior to the injury.
“It’s been a little bit of an up and down season for me in terms of getting back on the field and gaining my sharpness back after injury, having to pull out of games because I was in more pain than I thought I should be before the game,” he said. “It was a rollercoaster.”
Moor also comes from an All-Star pedigree. In college he spent a year at Furman University playing alongside future stars Clint Dempsey and Ricardo Clark before transferring to Indiana where he won back-to-back NCAA National Championships.
“My dad and I went to Dallas Burn games all the time, but I never pictured myself being a professional soccer player until college,” Moor said. “It’s always been what I love to do. MLS was certainly a goal of mine. Going to some very good soccer colleges helped.”
Off the field, Moor is a devout Christian and family man, dedicated to his wife Shelby and French bulldog Bernard. On it, he’s tenacious, barking orders and doing whatever dirty work it takes to protect his side’s turf.
“I think some people see me have some outbursts on the field that you wouldn’t see off it,” Moor said. “Sometimes you have to get after the refs, sometimes you have to get after your teammates, sometimes you have to get after the other team. On the field, it’s my job. I want to go out and win, I’m a competitive guy. Winning games means you have to get fiery.”
The fact that Mastroeni honored Moor with the selection is even more meaningful considering his time playing with and now for the former US international.
“Eleven years is a lot of players and a handful of coaches that I’ve played for and played with. Pablo Mastroeni is certainly a guy I’ve looked up to,” said Moor. “He was my captain, we won a championship here, and now he’s my coach, so certainly he’s had a huge influence on my career.”
