After becoming the first club in League history, the Team of Firsts had yet another before MLS even kicked off. This time, it was the very first draft pick in MLS history. With an entire player pool to choose from, Columbus had the chance to select the cornerstone of its franchise for years to come.
Pro sports are littered with bad draft choices that have crippled franchises. My Cleveland Browns are the foremost practitioners of this sadistic art form. Columbus Crew SC, however, nailed it. It could not have gotten the selection of Brian McBride any more right. Looking back at the draft, there is not a single person, even with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, that would have been a better selection.
Humble, fearless, hard-working, friendly, good-looking, and a possessor of that all-important ability to put the ball in the back of the net, McBride was the perfect ambassador for the club as he quickly became Crew SC’s first major star. He is unquestionably one of the foundational pillars upon which this club was built.
The number two pick was Jean Harbor. The number three pick was Ted Eck. There were definitely some MLS stars taken elsewhere in that first round, such as Robin Fraser (#4), Mark Chung (#6), and Raul Diaz Arce (#10), but nobody would have come close to the impact McBride had on Columbus, both on and off the field.
The following decade, Frankie Hejduk (#67 overall) would have a legendary reign over Crewville, as evidenced by the fact that he has joined McBride in Crew SC’s Circle of Honor, but Brian McBride was the perfect pick at the perfect time. It was a franchise-defining decision that the club got one billion percent correct.
It was a huge moment with a huge payoff.
