Landon Donovan To Have MLS MVP Award In His Name
Whether or not Landon Donovan is one of the best players to play primarily in Major League Soccer can be argued. What can’t be argued, however, is that Landon Donovan forever changed this league and the way people look at it. As Don Garber has said many times, Landon Donovan was the catalyst to making MLS a “league of choice”.
When Landon Donovan announced he would be retiring at the end of the 2014 season, it came as a surprise to many people. He clearly had a lot left in the tank. He is only 32 years old and seemed to be having one of his better seasons so for Donovan to be retiring, it all seemed a bit early.
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Donovan made it clear though that, he was not retiring because he did not feel he could perform anymore. He was retiring because he felt it was right. It was his chance to go out while playing at the top of his game, and that is something not a lot of players get to do. He wanted to spend time with his family and go after other goals in his life.
Throughout the rest of the season, teams and players all throughout the league paid tribute to Landon Donovan, giving him different gifts as he visited their home stadium for the last time. This is just one of the many gestures done that showed the respect Donovan has garnered around the league.
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Landon Donovan has been a spokesperson for Major League Soccer ever since he came to MLS in 2001 with San Jose and then in 2005 with the Los Angeles Galaxy. He had the talent to play elsewhere around the world, but he chose Major League Soccer which was an extremely new league that was just starting to grow.
Today in Philadelphia at the MLS Superdraft, Major League Soccer paid tribute to one of their best spokespersons once again, and this time it was to name their MVP award after Landon Donovan. Donovan has won the MVP award once in his time in MLS, but with his name now synonymous with the league, it only made sense.
No one can argue about what Donovan has meant to this league and its growth. Landon Donovan was the first star to come to MLS solely based on his choice, and he has paved the way for many US internationals to choose MLS over other leagues throughout the world.
In a year with two new clubs coming into MLS to move the total to 20 teams, it just goes to show how far MLS has come since Landon Donovan chose to play here. Landon Donovan holds plenty of MLS records and now he can add this to his résumé: the MLS MVP award is now named after him.