he has 91 goals in 156 league games and another nine in 20 playoff matches -- wasn't your typical journey for an U.S. player.
He credits his parents, particularly his father, Tim, for instilling pride in a work ethic, some common sense and balance. Tim, who runs Twellman Soccer Academy and markets soccer gear and apparel, never tried to over-coach his son, taking a pragmatic approach that allowed Taylor to thrive.
"My motto growing up with my dad was you're only as a good as your last game. Even after Thursday's goal, my dad said, 'Great goal, now you've got to win one,'" Taylor said of the bicycle kick goal that gave the Revs a 1-0 win against the Chicago Fire in the Eastern Conference final. "That's all it is. You move on."
Taylor remembered what transpired in the car with his family after a high school soccer awards banquet. The question from his parents was: "What are your goals for next year?"
"It was never individual," Taylor said. "My dad never said, 'You've got to score 15 goals or 20 goals. What part of your game you need to improve on?' We still do that now. After this final on Sunday, I'll go home for Thanksgiving and my, dad and brother will sit there and have a beer and all three of us will say. They'll say, 'This is what I think.'"
It may be difficult to believe, but Taylor didn't play youth soccer until he was 10 years old -- prior to that he did play for grade-school teams -- and during his high-scoring high school days, he didn't always play club soccer.
"The only thing we did as a family, my wife and I was try to keep him from falling into that crazy youth sports system where the coach is more worried if they're winning instead of the kids," Tim said. "We really dictated when Taylor would play and all that. Not always making everybody happy, that's for sure.
"When he got to high school, he pretty much dictated what he wanted to do. He wanted to try different sports and have fun in high school. That's pretty much how I did it, so I encouraged it. He didn't really play really much club soccer in high school, which is crazy. He said, 'I cannot go to school and play high school as a sport and go to club practice after that because I can't do it all.' It worked out well for him."
Taylor was destined to become a professional athlete, given his family background.
Tim, played for the Minnesota Kicks, Tulsa Roughnecks and Chicago Sting in the North American Soccer League and eventually for the Comets in the original Major Indoor Soccer League. He had two uncles who saw some time in the NASL. His younger brother Jim was picked by the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft. His sister Alex was a standout for the St. Louis University women's team.
His grandfather, Jim Delsing, played 10 Major League Baseball seasons (he might be best remembered as the pinch runner for 3-foot-7 tall Eddie Gaedel in 1951) and has another uncle, Jay Delsing, who was a pro golfer.
Not surprisingly, Taylor was competitive from the get-go.
"Taylor always had to have some sort of a ball or a game that we were going to be playing," Tim said. "It was always that case even in the backyard. We were playing same games or whatever sport it was. The game would never end, according to Taylor. It was always play on or that goal didn't count."
He excelled at baseball and soccer. He was a shortstop who hit for average, but not power.
Taylor actually was a center midfielder who was asked to play forward at St. Louis University High School, which was his father's alma mater.
Ironically, baseball helped Taylor pick soccer as his pro sport when the Royals gave him an offer that he could refuse in his senior year.
"Without hesitating, I said, 'I think I'm going to give college a shot,'" Taylor said. "I didn't realize it at the time. I think I choose soccer."
He went to Maryland on a baseball scholarship and never played baseball. He left school to pursue (after connecting for 28 goals in 43 games) to pursue a career with 1860 Munich in the German Bundesliga, but couldn't break into the first team. He joined the Revs, and as they say, the rest is history. Taylor scored 23 goals his first season in 2002. He led the league in goals twice was named MVP in 2005.
Asked if he had any regrets not pursuing baseball, Taylor replied, "Of course, there's always that. I went to Games 6 and 7 of ALCS and Games 1 and 2 of the World Series. If there's ever a time in my life, I say, 'Darn it!' On the other hand, I'm in Boston. I've been a part of a great team for six years and hopefully it continues. It's not regret. It's just kind of a wonder. I don't know. I played shortstop and didn't hit 45 home runs a year. Who knows where I'd be?'"
Last year was a tough one for the Twellman clan. Jim Delsing died on May 4, 2006. After impressing during a series of winter warm-up matches, Taylor was left off the U.S. World Cup team.
"2006 was the hardest year and it was the one year that I never smiled. We talked about that at the end of the year," Taylor said. "That's not me. I want kids to watch the game and (see) 'You know what?' He enjoys what he's doing. Even though it's the MLS Cup, he's smiling; he's having a good time. You measure happiness, not by how much money you make, but how times you smile and I smile a lot.
"It was very hard on my family because of my grandfather. He was the heart and soul of the family. It took a lot out of everyone. It was very hard.
"Then you throw the World Cup on top of it and it was one of those situations where it was very difficult. I fought through it pretty well. Looking back on it, I got through it, making something out of nothing. I had a good playoff. I'm just glad it's over."
During World Cup winter warm-ups, Taylor connected for the ninth hat trick in national team history in a 5-0 triumph against Norway and added a goal and two assists in a 3-2 win against Japan. Even though he was productive, Taylor had a strong feeling after the disastrous 4-1 loss at Germany in March that then coach Bruce Arena would leave him off the roster.
"I was on a three-game scoring streak and I didn't play," Taylor said. "I didn't start. If my memory serves me correct, if Eddie Johnson was on a streak, or Brian McBride or Landon Donovan or anyone else who was on that scoring streak, they weren't being taken out. When I was taken out, I was like, wait a minute. I remember calling home from Germany and [saying] 'Guys, I don't think I'm going to go.'
"That's when I got the sign from Bruce Arena that I was definitely still sitting on that fence. It was tough. I carried that with me into the MLS season. I knew it. I knew it then. It's funny. I bet Kerry Zavagnin and Ben Olsen on that trip and they both looked at me and laughed. I said, guys, 'I'll bet you a steak dinner that I will treat you to.' ... What are you going to do? I can sleep all night because I did everything at the right moment."
Taylor and his teammates certainly can make 2007 a lot more memorable if they finally get over the hump and win an MLS title. They have been to the final on three previous occasions -- 2002, 2005 and 2006 -- only to watch with great disappointment the Los Angeles Galaxy (twice) and Dynamo (2006) take the final victory lap with the Alan I. Rothenberg trophy in tow.
"It's going to be good for the league as far as from the fan perspective." Taylor said. "I think these are two of the most complete teams in MLS. They're the teams that play for the team. There are no ego problems on any of these teams. Everyone works hard for each other.
"Yeah, we're hungry. We're not going to lie about it. I think we've thought about it for 11 months now. We're back at it. We've just go to do at what we do best and hopefully the chips fall in the right place for us."
Especially when Taylor Twellman sets his sights at the right net.
Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News and is editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
