Chronicling the returnees
February 6, 2025
The unexpected return of Tim Parker is not unprecedented; numerous times in Metro history a player returned to the fold, for better or for worse. Let's go through all the returnees, ignoring the cases when the Metro stint was interrupted by a loan elsewhere (Ryan Meara, Anatole Abang as two examples):
Petter Villegas (1996, 1999-2002)
Villegas played three games in the middle of Metro's inaugural season as a minor-league call-up. He returned for good in 1999 through the Supplemental Draft, and spent three and a half up-and-down seasons running up and down Metro's right flank. He was traded to DC in the deal that yielded Mark Lisi and Craig Ziadie.
Rob Johnson (1996-97, 1999)
Johnson showed up late in the inaugural season, scored four goals, and perfected the flip throw-in. Cut early in 1997, he returned two years later as a one-game call-up from the dearly departed Staten Island Vipers.
Roy Myers (1999, 2000, 2001)
Myers was Metro's big signing in 1999... until he wasn't; traded to LA after seven games in a cleansing that was supposed to bring Lothar Matthaus to Metro. He returned a year later (with Matthaus now in fold) in a trade for Brian Kelly, and was an important part of Metro's first division title. Myers returned to Costa Rica, then came back to Metro again a year later... but that stint was even shorter than the first, as he was shelved by an injury after just three games.
John Wolyniec (1999, 2003-05, 2006-10)
The only other player with three stints is Wolyniec, and you might even say that it's four. He was drafted in the first round of the college draft, but cut early in the season. Called up from the Long Island Rough-Riders late, Woly scored on his debut, but did not return in 2000. Bob Bradley would acquire him in the hastily-reinstituted Supplemental Draft in 2003, and Wolyniec became a key member of the team, scoring the most amazing goal in MLS history and tallying 10 goals a year later. In 2005, he was sent to Columbus for Ante Razov, only to return a year later for a couple of draft picks. He became Metro's first ever MLS Cup scorer in 2008, and retired as a beloved figure in 2010. Then it was coaching, and leading Metro's reserve squad to the USL double in 2016.
Richie Williams (2001, 2003)
Williams arrived to Metro in a deal that sent Mike Ammann to DC in order to open up the starting goalkeeping spot for Tim Howard. A year later, he was sent back to DC for Brian Kamler. A year later, Bradley brought him back in the massive trade that yielded Eddie Pope and the fat bastard Jaime Moreno. A year later, Williams was done with MLS as a player... but did return to be Metro's assistant coach from 2006 to 2010, including two stints as interim head coach.
Steve Jolley (2000-03, 2006)
Jolley arrived from Los Angeles for a draft pick early in 2000 and played every possible minute during his first two seasons with Metro. Dealt by Bradley to Dallas for Tenywa Bonseu after 2003, he returned for a ham sandwich (a 4th round supplemental pick) in 2006. Of course, now he is widely known for over a decade as Metro's voice on the radio, and now on Apple broadcasts.
Tony Meola (1996-98, 2005-06)
Metro's original goalkeeper was almost ever-present during the leagues first three years, but was packaged with the clown Alexi Lalas to Kansas City for Ammann and Mark Chung in one of the biggest blockbuster trades in league history. He came back midway through 2005, and produced one of the best goalkeeping performances in team history in Metro's season-ending playoff-clinching 2:0 win at Chivas USA. But the end of the line was near, as 2006 was Meola's last year in outdoor soccer... for who can forget his stint with the indoor New Jersey Ironmen?
Clint Mathis (2000-03, 2007)
In the most MLS move of all MLS moves, the league forced the LA Galaxy to hand over Mathis to Metro as compensation for signing Luis Hernandez. The rest is history, as Clint became the club's first superstar, scoring five goals in one game, and scoring for the US at the 2002 World Cup. Europe came calling, so he went to Hannover after 2003, came back to MLS with expansion Salt Lake, played for Colorado, before returning to Metro for a ham sandwich (a 4th round pick) in 2007. Needing six goals to set the all-time team scoring record, he did just that, ending his Metro career at 45. It was back to the Galaxy again, for a thicker ham sandwich (a 3rd round pick).
Tim Regan (2003-05, 2007)
The jack-of-all trades played everywhere along the backline and even midfield in his first stint, often as the first man off the bench. Bradley took him off waivers to Chivas USA, where Regan became a starter and was grabbed by Toronto in the expansion draft. Metro sent colossal disappointment Edson Buddle to get Regan back, but he only lasted three games before being cut in midseason.
Chris Leitch (2003-05, 2007-08)
Leitch came to Metro from Columbus for Ross Paule and proved to be a useful player for three seasons, before being shipped to... Columbus, with Eddie Gaven for the aforementioned Buddle. He came back a year later and spent two more seasons with Metro, started MLS Cup and was then traded to San Jose.
Zach Thornton (1996-97, 2008)
Thornton played sparingly in his first two seasons with Metro, backing up Meola, but was in goal for the first win in team history, the famous shootout comeback over Tampa. Chicago took him in the expansion draft after 1997. He came back a decade later, signed from Colorado, but only played one game in his second stint: a 2:0 Open Cup loss to a club named Crystal Palace Baltimore. Thornton was dumped to Chivas USA soon after that.
Mike Petke (1998-2002, 2009-10)
Petke left Metro as the all-time leader in games played in that trade that acquired Pope, Moreno, and Williams. He returned off waivers from Colorado to wrap up his playing career with his original team. Somehow, he won his only team Defender of the Year award for the terrible 2009 season, but then started -- and scored -- in the first-ever game at Red Bull Arena against Santos. He retired after 2010, came back first as an assistant, and then as head coach, leading Metro to its first Shield. What happened afterwards? Ask Ali Curtis and his split pants. Petke is the only one in the MetroFanatic Hall of Fame twice, as a player and a coach.
Leo Krupnik (2002*, 2009)
The asterisk means that he did not play in his first stint, as Krupnik was drafted in the sixth round, cut, then was signed late in the season, but didn't play a minute. After making a career in Israel, he returned seven years later during the disastrous 2009 season, proving to be one of the worst players in team history. He obviously didn't make it to 2010.
Greg Sutton (2000*, 2010-11)
Sutton filled in as a backup goalkeeper early in 2000, when Howard was away with US duties. He was signed from Toronto in 2010, and actually was named a starter in 2011 before a terrible game in Seattle made the Metro brass look elsewhere. Sutton was sent to Montreal, then in the minor leagues, on loan, and stayed as they made their way to MLS.
Danny Cepero (2007-09, 2010*)
Cepero famously scored the first goalkeeper goal in MLS history, on his debut, and then famously shutout Houston and Salt Lake on the road as Metro won the Western(!) Conference to make its first MLS Cup. Not so famously, he failed to produce a regular season shutout in the disastrous 2009 season... and then shutout Metro for minor-league Harrisburg in the 2010 Open Cup. Cepero came back later that season as goalkeeping cover.
Dane Richards (2007-12, 2015)
That win over Houston will forever be known as "The Dane Richards Game", as the Jamaican ran wild over the two-time defending champions. An enigmatic winger who exchanged periods of brilliance and ineffectiveness, he was traded to Vancouver in an ill-advised move for Sebastien Le Toux in 2012. Richards came back in 2015 from Norway's Bodo/Glimt, but contributed little to the eventual Shield winners, spending the second half of the year on loan to minor-league Indianapolis.
Amado Moreno (2013, 2018*)
Academy product Moreno played two league minutes in 2013 (and a whole 90 in the Open Cup!), before surprisingly signing with Tijuana. He returned in 2018, but could not break into the first team, released and then traded to Chicago for scraps.
Kyle Duncan (2018-21, 2022-)
Duncan is not officially counted as an academy graduate, because he left Metro as a youth player to go to Valenciennes in France. Failing to break into the first team there, he returned, debuted as a backup for the Shield winner in 2018, then became a key player at right back. Europe came calling again, as he signed with Belgium's KV Oostende after 2021, but quickly returned, first on loan, then permanently.
Hassan Ndam (2017-18, 2022-23)
Signed from the Cameroonian faux factory Rainbow FC, Ndam played very little in his first two years with Metro. Taken by Cincinnati in the expansion draft, he spent the next three years in the minors, before making his way back to Metro's reserves. Most of his playing time came in 2023, when Metro was short on defenders... but the brass thankfully realized that better options in central defense are needed, so off to Haka of freezing Finland he went.
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