Behind every streak, there's a story. For Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis, his MLS-record minutes played streak involves a cast of two characters.
First, there's Reis, the Revolution's stalwart goalkeeper. He's played 6,750 minutes in between the sticks, a league record besting Houston's Pat Onstad. No other goalkeeper has played in a regular-season or playoff game for the Revs since September 2005.
"I've been fortunate enough to stay healthy and I've stayed away from major injuries," Reis said. "I've been blessed with an amazing body that doesn't break down all that easily."
Reis' ability to stay healthy has provided one of the foundations for the Revolution's success over the past few seasons, according to Revs head coach Steve Nicol.
"If you're a defender, Matt Reis makes life easier for you," Nicol said. "When you have confidence in your goalkeeper, it gives you confidence in yourself. He's a presence back there."
Then there's backup goalkeeper Doug Warren. He played a lot in college at Clemson and started for D.C. United at one point before settling into his role as backup goalkeeper in New England, a task that involves more of being a good teammate and contributing to the loose atmosphere in the lockerroom and less on-field participation.
"It's definitely difficult," Warren said. "The team aspect is more important than the personal aspect. Any way I can make the team stronger. I don't want to be a person with a bad attitude, I want to have a good attitude and go into practice and compete."
But to say the two stories don't intertwine would be to miss the point. Reis might always play and Warren might never see gaem action, but Warren's contributions are far greater than one would expect.
"Doug pushes me every week, week-in and week-out," Reis said. "We work hard. I know that if I get a muscle pull, Doug has to be there and be ready."
Keeping ready is difficult when you don't see the field aside from reserve matches, but Warren says he wants to show up every day with the willingness to show his teammates that he can play too.
"It's self-pride," Warren said. "There are 25 other guys who have to practice with me every day. I'm competing with them every day. I want to play well with them every day. Even though he doesn't get injured, the players around me need to be confident in me."
His teammates' confidence emanates from Warren's consistency in practice.
"I approach every day as it's my job to show up and work hard and push Matt," Warren said. "If I show up and I just go through the motions, he doesn't feel like he's getting pushed. It is different from what I was used to growing up, but I approach every day as another chance to compete. I take it seriously every day in practice. That's where I get my workout and that's where I get my competitiveness."
Reis believes that his fellow 'keeper can play at this level, even if he rarely gets the chance to do so.
"He's proven that he can play in this league," Reis said. "In this day and age, you've got to have two starting goalies. You got to have two guys that can carry a team."
Nicol believes Warren would be ready to play if the opportunity ever arose and suggested that Reis might want to keep healthy in order to maintain his place in the team -- especially remembering how Reis took over the starting job those years ago.
"[Warren] doesn't go through the motions one iota," Nicol said. "He has to be ready to play. You get your chance through suspension or injury and you don't know when that's going to hit. That happened with Matt and Adin Brown. Adin Brown was one of the best goalkeepers in the league and then he got hurt. Matt came in and did well. When Adin got fit, he ended up staying on the bench."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
