Kyle Brown is thrilled to be getting a fresh start with Real Salt Lake following a turbulent rookie season in New England last year — a situation he didn't exactly help with a bad attitude at times.
It's not that the former Texas all-state high school football player wasn't happy in Bean Town, it's just that the Revolution Reserves were decimated by injuries, and that's the squad Brown was getting the bulk of his minutes with. For numerous reserve games, those injuries forced the Revs to sign three or four out-of-contract local pros to weekend contracts just to have enough players.
"I don't think we had one game where we felt too comfortable, and I think that kind of hurt me in the long run," said Brown. "I was never really into our reserve games to be honest, and that's kind of a bad attitude to have in those reserve games, but it was one of those things you knew every game was going to be sloppy."
That sloppiness produced an 0-7-4 record, by far the worst reserve mark in Major League Soccer.
Perhaps worse for Brown, that poor run of form with the reserves started to negatively impact his standing with the senior squad. After appearing in 10 of New England's first 18 games, including two starts while Clint Dempsey was away at the World Cup, Brown quickly fell out of favor. He appeared in just two of the final 14 regular-season games for a whopping six minutes.
"I just kind of went into a slump," said Brown, who attributes some of it to simply holding back in training.
Still, he didn't think for a second he would be blindsided by an offseason trade. That's exactly what happened, however, on the day of the 2007 MLS SuperDraft when New England shipped Brown to Real Salt Lake for — of all things — a supplemental pick.
"I had no clue it was coming. I don't think that's real fair to do to players on a developmental contract, who get settled into a certain place and I had coaching jobs (in which) I was going to be able to make almost as much money as ... playing soccer," said Brown. "It's not a bad thing, but I just knew it was going to be another big adjustment. I just think players should have some awareness that something is in the works."
On the field, that adjustment this preseason has been very easy, aided when Brown later discovered that it wasn't that New England didn't want him but rather that Real Salt Lake really wanted him. Brown was one of the players RSL was targeting the year before in the later rounds of MLS draft, but New England snagged him first.
"He was very high on our list," said RSL coach John Ellinger.
The ironic thing about Brown's struggles with New England last year is that he absolutely hates losing, a big reason why RSL's coaching staff was intrigued by Brown in the first place.
So far this preseason, he's committed himself to rediscovering that intensity. That's great news for RSL — with his athleticism and a tenacious work rate at either a wide midfielder or a forward, Brown could emerge as a real sleeper heading into the 2007 season.
His athleticism was on display during the first week of training camp back in February, when Brown had the best vertical jump, the fastest agility test time and the second-fastest 40-yard dash time.
"Athletically he's unbelievable, and he's a soccer player," said Ellinger. "We're not sure if he's going to be better as a forward or a wide midfielder, but we're definitely going to use him in both capacities. He's another who will be battling for the 18 (players on the game-day roster) the whole time."
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com