COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – You could set your watch by Drew Moor.
Beginning in their MLS Cup-winning season in 2010, Moor was a Colorado Rapids mainstay, registering at least 30 starts in four straight seasons.
He was on pace to hit that number again last season.
That was, until Aug. 17, 2014, when Moor ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during a game against D.C. United, marking the first major injury of his career and the beginning ofe an eight-month recovery process. The culmination of that rehab came Friday night against former team FC Dallas, with Moor making his return to the Rapids lineup in central defense in a 4-0 away win.
“The injury itself was probably the low point. All the questions you sit around and ask yourself. The mental side was tougher than the physical side,” Moor told MLSsoccer.com. “It was a long layoff, a lot of rehab and physical therapy.”
Among the biggest challenges for Moor – who holds the MLS record for most consecutive appearances by a field player with 69 (2009-2011) – was having to take a step back from his day-to-day role on the team while he focused on the recovery process.
“You get discouraged when your team is playing and you’re sitting at home when they are on the road or in the stadium for home games,” Moor said. “It’s difficult because your responsibility is to get yourself right. You’re not quite as part of the team as you want to be.”
However, being a consummate optimist, Moor was able to find several silver linings along the way.
“It’s kind of crazy how the world works. During my rehab I got married, so on some level it was the happiest time of my life,” he said. “To marry the love of my life in the middle of all that certainly made things better.”
Additionally, after being a Major League Soccer ironman for nearly 10 years – he had a stretch of five straight seasons with Dallas of at least 20 appearances starting in his 2005 rookie season – Moor welcomed the respite.
“Going at it 10 years without a break other than the offseason, I got to concentrate on my body and get stronger in my upper body and my core,” he said. “To be able to rest up mentally and physically was the silver lining in it as well.”
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Optimism aside, the Rapids plummeted with Moor out of the lineup, failing to win games and conceding a league-high 62 goals at the conclusion of the 2014 season.
As devastating as Moor’s injury proved to be, his return proved to be equally triumphant when he made his first start of 2015 in his hometown. With their captain back in the fold, the Rapids earned their first win of the season, ending a MLS-record 18-game winless streak over his former team led by the Rapids’ former head coach, Oscar Pareja.
“Going back to his hometown in front of his family and friends brought a lot of optimism and excitement to the group,” Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. “Life is all about struggle and finding a day where you feel half decent enough to get through the struggle. I told him, ‘Be the captain and the leader that you are.’ I just showered him with optimism, and he did the rest.”
And while most of the attention was showered on the Rapids offense shedding the proverbial piano off their backs – ending a 600-plus minute scoring drought – Moor’s presence on the backline continued their defensive dominance this season with a fourth clean sheet in five games.
“I think Pablo and the team as a whole wants our foundation to be strong defensively,” Moor said. “It’s not just bunkering in. It’s working hard to cut out passes and win the ball higher up the field. From good defense, you’re going to have some good offense.
“The way the team played as a whole was pretty impressive. Being in Dallas on a Friday night with my family there against my old team and our old coach, it was different from anything I could have guessed.”
