As we countdown the days until the MLS season begins, we will be looking at 25 players from greater Philadelphia who have made an impact on the league 25 years after the first ball was kicked.
Twenty-five years after joining the Columbus Crew in their inaugural season, Rob Smith still displays one of his favorite keepsakes from his career in MLS in his office.
The keepsake: a hand-written letter from Lamar Hunt.
“It was a full page handwritten letter,” Smith said of the letter he received from the original MLS investor and owner of the Crew, the league’s first team, after retiring in 2000.