ORLANDO, Fla. – It was early in Eryk Williamson’s time with the Portland Timbers, and he was struggling to break into the team’s MLS lineups. He’d taken a leap in the offseason, leaving the University of Maryland to turn professional early, but his playing time was almost exclusively coming with Timbers 2, the club’s second-division team. For somebody in the United States’ youth national team pool, it was a disappointing obstacle, one that led “The Godfather” to check in.
“He realized my frustration,” remembered Williamson, now a starter next to that Godfather, Diego Chara, in Portland’s midfield.