It had taken a long time for Kelyn Rowe.
The longtime New England Revolution midfielder has been dubbed a potential addition to the Seattle Sounders for years as his local roots grew up in the Federal Way suburb of Seattle. The Revs ranked third overall in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, where Rowe settled down and made 206 appearances over seven seasons, which meant returning home had to wait.
But after brief stints at Real Salt Lake, Sporting Kansas City and back again at New England, the Sounders Rowe finally returned to his hometown when they announced his signing in a Friday release.
“I’ve wanted to play here for a long time,” Rowe told reporters on a video call shortly after the announcement. “It helps me to come home and play for one of the best teams in the league. Not everyone can say that when they play for their home club. So I’m very happy to influence this club as much as possible.” .
“I just always wanted to come and play in front of my family and friends, whatever it was. If it was five or five years ago, I wanted it to happen. But I didn’t want to just have a year here and go Retire or a year or two, I wanted to play a whole career here in Seattle in front of my family, my friends, the people I grew up with, so it wasn’t just a year or two that hopefully there would be a lot more were more. “
WELCOME HOME!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/1Z5JhxAaCi
– Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) January 29, 2021
Rowe will be the newest on the Seattle area Sounders list, which includes DeAndre Yedlin, Lamar Neagle, and the recently loaned Jordan Morris. But his signature is not only used for symbolism or a feel-good story.
The Sounders are going to need Rowe this year after going through an off-season in which they lost key contributors across the field in Morris, Gustav Svensson and Kelvin Leerdam. Rowe said he takes pride in his versatility, having played as a broad attacker throughout his career, but also used throughout midfield and even as a defender. It remains to be seen where head coach Brian Schmetzer will use him in 2021, but Rowe expects he will stand in line for many minutes.
“Expectations are one thing, reality is another,” he said. “My expectation is to fight for a place, that should be every player’s expectation, to fight for a place every week, week after week. We have a lot of young talent on this team. Obviously the loss of Jordan and a few other people cleared up a few spots so we’re planning that, but I’ve been a utility gamer for most of my career, as a little kid I wasn’t happy about that, I wanted to be solidified in one spot, but because I was in some ways Having gotten older and wiser I think I’ll be happy with a utility player whatever I can do to get on the field. “
Kelyn Rowe: Big Washington guy 🏡 pic.twitter.com/zwhJ9EL7Mn
– Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) January 29, 2021
Rowe said he had maintained a close bond with the city throughout his career and came home over the holidays to spend time with his family and exercise in the off-season. He also closely followed how the Sounders have become one of the most dominant clubs in the league over the past five years, making it to four MLS Cup finals and winning two of them.
While enjoying that success from afar, Rowe said he couldn’t get rid of the feeling either that it was something he wanted to be a part of. Now he has that chance.
“I think the greatest pride I’ve felt in this town was watching the Seahawks win the Super Bowl, but also watching the Sounders win [MLS Cup]”Said Rowe.” One of the years they won, I was in Washington and saw the game with some friends and they won. It was hard to speak, I almost had tears in my eyes, I was so proud. But it was also bittersweet because I wanted to be part of that team. It’s my hometown team. The fact that I can now, I hope we can make it this far and win something while I’m here. “
