For one day, for one special day in what has been an agonizing season, Jeff Agoos basked in brightest spotlight that U.S. soccer can offer an individual.
Agoos accepted what he called was "the highest honor you can achieve as a professional player," on Sunday as he was inducted as the newest member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
But he realized that on Monday, if not sooner, his mind will venture back to his job as sporting director of the Red Bulls, who are in the midst of a forgettable 2-15-4 season.
In fact, Agoos felt 2009 has been microcosm of his career.
"It encapsulates my career to a certain respect," Agoos said after induction ceremonies. "I have been at very high points and very low points. This has been without one of the most difficult years in my professional life both on the field and off the field. It's been incredibly disappointing to have gotten the results that we have.
"On the other side, I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about people. I learned a lot about my job and I am thankful for some of the lessons that I have learned. ... I have always been somebody who will work harder than the guy next to me, put in extremely long hours trying to help and turn what I think is a very disappointing season around."
Agoos was inducted into the Hall along with former U.S. women's national team player Joy Fawcett, who forged a reputation as a stalwart defender and a unique soccer mom because she played at a high level despite giving birth to children in the middle of her career. Also honored was former New York Times soccer writer Alex Yannis, the Colin Jose Award winner for excellence in his career.
Agoos enjoyed career had that included 134 international appearances, a member of two World Cup teams and playing a vital role on a record five MLS Cup championship games.
"This is a sport that has given me so much," he told several hundred spectators at the Hall's museum. "I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to see the world with a different perspective. I have met presidents, prime ministers and certainly enough pundits to last me a lifetime.
"I wish I could say all of this was planned from the very beginning. All I really wanted to do is to have fun and be the best player that I could be."
During his 12-minute acceptance speech, Agoos definitely was in a humble and thankful mood and mentioned several coaches who helped his career -- including Richard Mungioli at J.J. Pearce High School, L.A. Galaxy assistant Dave Sarachan, current Galaxy head man Bruce Arena, the San Jose Earthquakes' Frank Yallop and Houston Dynamo's Dominic Kinnear.
"As I quickly found out, this game can be brutally honest, highly subjective and best of all, incredibly beautiful to be a part of," he said. "I always felt that ceremonies like this are not certainly not about honoring the individual as much as the people who got them to this place. While my name and picture may be immortalized here, my story cannot be told without the people who are responsible. I had the good fortune to be around so many good people, so many good organizations, so many good coaches I feel more of a representative than an inductee."
Agoos credited Sarachan, who was his roommate at the Maccabiah Games a generation ago, as "the driving force of behind my attending UVa [Univeristy of Virginia]."
Arena coached Agoos at the college, professional (D.C. United) and national team levels.
"If I could point to one person who I truly could not be here without, it would be Bruce," Agoos said. "Bruce believed in me. He gave me the opportunity that I never had with any other person or any other coach."
Agoos remembered his first day as a freshman at Virginia, when Arena introduced him to the team as the starting sweeper.
"Bruce always had that confidence in me," he said.
"I know we've had our ups and downs in the past, but I know Bruce is a huge part of [what he became]. Bruce, I can't thank you enough."
Agoos admitted he had missed several coaches. "I would be up here for days to go through the list," he said, later adding two coaches who have passed on -- U.S. Olympic coach Clive Charles and assistant national coach Glenn "Mooch" Myernick.
He did reveal a few things about himself and his career, that he almost quit the game in 2001 after United had traded him to San Jose "from basically what I believed to be the best team ... to the worst team at that time."
Yallop, who was the head coach, and Kinnear, then the assistant coach, wanted Agoos to be captain.
"I flatly responded, 'I don't want to go to San Jose. I would rather retire'" Agoos said. "Frank's mouth dropped open as you could imagine."
Agoos' brother, Brad, was living on the west coast at the time, and he decided to keep on playing.
"This turned out to be one of the best decisions of my soccer career," Agoos said. "I don't know if I ever publicly thanked those two for what they did for me but I would like to right now."
He also thanked his mother and father. In fact, Agoos' father, Andy, introduced and presented his son with the honor.
"As you can imagine, it doesn't get any better than this," Andy Agoos said. "You stand up to recognize the achievements what your children have done."
Later, Jeff returned the favor.
"Ironically, I grew up as most children perhaps swearing I would never be like my father," Jeff said. "When I look in the mirror. I see my father. I am my father's son in so many ways that I couldn't be prouder of that fact."
Or of his wife, Natalie, and his two daughters, Emma, 4, and Violet, 8. "You are everything I have and everything I want," Agoos said. "I don't feel like I'm standing here as a Hall of Famer as much as being your father.
"Whenever I came home from a game, you couldn't care if we won or lost, as long as I came home. In the the last year we haven't won a lot. You only cared that I came home."
Agoos soon completed his speech. On the way to his seat, Emma and Violet walked over to their father and gave him a big hug.
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.
