Chad Marshall Signs 'Legend' Contract

Chad Marshall and the Crew agreed to a deal today that keeps him in town through the 2015 season (4 more seasons).

Marshall has already been with the team for eight years. He is 27 years old. I haven't heard the details of the pay but it was not announced that he was made DP. That means he is still not making enough for the team to tag him as such (for cap purposes). He was already making $320k so we can deduce that it is likely he is still in that range.

Based on his play last year I value him in the $260k range.

That said. What do you pay a guy who is about to become the player with the following:

- Most Minutes with the Crew ALL-TIME (needs 19 more games)
- Most Years with the Crew ALL-TIME (about to join Oughton with 9)
- Three Supporter Shield's and a MLS Cup

The group he is jumping in time with the Crew is impressive. Mike Clark, Jeff Cunningham, Brian Maisonneuve, Frankie Hejduk and Brian McBride. All with eight years in house.

Chad Marshall comes off as your typical stoic center back but in reality he is quite different. He is deceitfully quick and has incredible closing speed which you only really see on display when he his making up for another teammates mistake.


Mr. Marshall also isn't the same kind of player Crew fans are typically drawn to. You don't hear about him partying with supporters. No pictures of him at (defunct) Hudson Street or (not defunct) 4th Street drinking with the fans. He has no twitter account or any other real presence in social media. Nor does he go out of his way celebrating goals (most often from corners) in front of the North Deck. You never even really see much more then a clinched fist and a look of satisfaction when another player scores a goal.

It's almost like the typical stoic center back demeanor haunts him. He has all the parts that make one, yet he doesn't not show that last important part that finishes the cliche.

This contradiction could be one of the reasons he has been kept off the National Team in recent years. He should be that cliche, but isn't. It can be cringe worthy for me to hear some supporters and fans clamoring for his call up to the USMNT. Not sure why that is, really. Maybe that's part of what I'm writing. Me clumsily trying to figure out why that bothers me.

Marshall grew up in Southern California. Looking at the map, his Rubidoux High School (black and gold, incidentally) seems to be just a bit outside of L.A. Seems sort of like a Greensboro is to Research Triangle, a Fredericksburg to DC or a Circleville might be to Columbus. Yet, the mere connection between him as an equestrian and his Stanford University spell tell a much different story.

And that different story is the one that lead me to writing all this in the first place.

Proud to have Chad Marshall signing on with the Crew for a few years longer. If parts of Crew Stadium weren't already earmarked to have his name etched on them, they certainly will be by 2015.