Gerald Barnhart

If one were to assemble a list of players to include in an inaugural group honored on a wall of fame or ring of honor dedicated to US Open Cup performances during the Professional Era, there is one name that would certainly come to the forefront. On Wednesday, with the Chicago Fire six days away from playing in its 14th consecutive appearance in the tournament, the club will honor standout defender CJ Brown, who played for the team each year since its 1998 launch before retiring last fall.

Brown was a staple for the club in the first 13 years of the Fire, which never missed the tournament and won a league-leading four Open Cup championships along the way. But it was a semifinal run in 1997 before the Fire even played a single game that kick-started it all.

Fresh out of college at San Jose State, the young back went undrafted by MLS and chose to remain with the San Francisco Bay Seals, whose talent-loaded side that was making the move up to the then-named D3 Pro League (USL Pro) after two years of dominating in the PDL. That was the first step on the path to greatness.

“In 1995 CJ was frequently a starter.  We had a very strong team with experienced defenders,” said Tom Simpson, the club’s longtime coach, general manager and owner. “We played the Richmond Kickers in the semifinals of the National Championship Final Four.  Though he didn’t start, he finished. And that game was the last match he didn’t start for us.”

The Seals would fall in that semifinal match 1-0 in the old 35-yard shootout tiebreaker and finish third. The following year they were runners-up.

“CJ was the defender of the year for the Seals in 1997,” said Simpson. “He and Tim Weaver played center backs for that season, after I dumped the sweeper position, and those two were the cornerstones of an incredible run that included 17 straight wins and a ride to the semifinals of the US Open Cup.  CJ blossomed once we dumped the sweeper and he was given the opportunity to lead the defense from the center back position.”

After a comfortable 4-0 win over Inter SC (San Jose, CA) of the USASA, the Seals edged the A-League’s (professional second division) Seattle Sounders 1-0 in the Second Round. San Francisco Bay then played host to the Kansas City Wizards (now Sporting KC) in a 2-1 Third Round upset, setting up a Bay Area showdown with the then San Jose Clash (now Earthquakes). Another 2-1 upset in the Quarterfinals brought DC United to California for the Semifinals where the Seals’ run came to an end in a close-fought 2-1 loss.

Even after the amazing Cinderella run in the Open Cup and a trip to the D3 Pro League semifinals after leading the league in defense (16 goals allowed in 18 games), there were still doubters among scouts if Brown was cut out for MLS.

There were “strong biases against him because his passing skills weren’t the finest. However, I pointed out that CJ’s passing, though not brilliant, never led to counterattacks or a goal.  He knew how to play within himself.  The bottom line was that no one was showing interest and no one called. We didn’t even know they knew about him until he was drafted No.1 in the supplemental draft.”

And that is when two people who have since become some of the most respected among American soccer circles took the chance.

“They took me when I was 22 years old. Nobody knew who I was, what I was about,” said Brown in his retirement conference call in October. “Bob Bradley gave me an opportunity. Peter Wilt brought me in.”

Wilt built the club into a powerhouse on the field and became beloved among the fans with his unique approach and success off it. Meanwhile, Bradley not only won championships, but has gone on to become a successful coach with the US Men’s National Team.

“CJ was the embodiment of the Fire spirit for more than a decade,” said Wilt, the former Chicago Fire President and General Manager.  “He was incredibly valuable to the organization both on and off the field.  CJ gave 100 percent effort every practice and game and made himself one of the most feared defenders in MLS.  That ability, and his commitment to the community made him one of the Fire’s most popular players of all time.”

The seed of his Fire career were planted in the Seals’ semifinal loss to DC and began to sprout later that fall at a pre-draft combine.

“Bob and I were aware of CJ from that incredible overachieving 1997 San Francisco Seals team that upset three higher league teams including two MLS teams,” added Wilt. “Bob saw him when his DC United team finally stopped the Seals run in the semifinals.  CJ stood out to Bob and me at the first day of the 1998 MLS player combine in Florida. After his first combine match, Bob and I went down to the field and spoke with him.  He was a gentleman and along with his strong physical play made it clear that he would be our first pick in the supplemental draft.”

With Brown, the Fire not only won the double the first year with three further Open Cup titles, but reached the Open Cup Final once more as well as two more MLS Cup Finals along with a Supporters’ Shield. The team even reached the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup on two occasions.

“CJ transitioned rapidly in Chicago for a number of reasons,” said Simpson. “He was not just an extraordinarily gifted defender, who had size, quickness, strength, speed and a gutsy determination to win balls, he has tremendous leadership skills and is very intelligent.  His personality style is unassuming but his playing style is anything but.  He was the leader who led by example.  His major shortcoming was his verbalization on the field; however, he learned this quickly as a professional.  This is what most likely began the real polishing part of making him one of the best defenders in the league.”

Perhaps it was Brown’s steady, unassuming presence that also makes it a surprise in retrospect that he was rarely honored as being among the league’s best, not earning even the team’s Defender of the Year honor until 2006. But if you ask him, it is probably the three team Humanitarian of the Year awards that he won in the meantime that matter more. Despite that, his play led to an opportunity with the US National Team, earning a call-up for the 1999 Confederations Cup where he played in the team’s victory over Germany. As a byproduct, it marked the only time he missed the US Open Cup until 2008, when he began a series of Open Cup games in which he was a member of the 18 that would not see the field.

“He was put on the national team and what did surprise me is that he didn’t become a regular,” added Simpson. “Had Bruce shown the confidence in CJ that the Fire showed, our national team would have been a stronger team during those years because of the ‘CJ effect.’  What is that?  Air tight defensive work that is thoughtful and complete.  Just as we went to three national championship events in a row while playing for the Seals, the Fire was immediately a powerhouse in the MLS.  People will cite other names, like Armas, Thornton etc, but I cite CJ because I know how profound his play is in establishing defensive integrity.”

The transition did not take long in 1998. Brown started all 28 of the league contests he played in that year en route to the MLS Cup championship as well as all four games of the team’s Open Cup championship campaign, winning the double as an expansion side in just as stunning fashion as his rise to prominence.

“There are so many,” Brown said in response to a question about his favorite moment of his career on a Chicago Fire podcast shortly before retiring. “Obviously ‘98 is the biggest one, which is crazy. That was my first year. Yeah, you win the double, you get the MLS Cup. And the Open Cup championship, which was huge. You can’t just key on one. So many great players have come through here.”

His MLS career, and the accolades that came with it were born out of a time when playing the game in his eyes was just fun.

“That was, soccer-wise, that was… we played for fun,” said Brown on the podcast. “We were playing because we enjoyed the game, we didn’t get paid. I would travel over an hour and a half just to get to practice. It was just a group of guys that loved to play the game and that was a lot of fun.

“We had a great year just before getting picked for the MLS. We ended up playing three MLS games. We ended up losing to DC United, who back then was one of the best teams in MLS,” he said of the Open Cup run.

“And I look at it as they didn’t like the fact that we were a USL team that made it that far, so they sent the big team after us,” he added with a chuckle.

“The experience and the level of soccer was very high. It was just fun to be a part of. I was very fortunate and lucky to be in the position that I was in. I wasn’t a college standout and I wasn’t in the national team list. I was lucky, very fortunate. I always say they were a big reason why I am in this league now. I have been very fortunate. I’ve been in the right place at the right time. I’ve been very blessed.”

While Brown was just enjoying the game, it was Simpson who was guiding the Seals to history and setting the stage for Brown to shine in the spotlight despite the club being in the dark when it came to preparing for the top flight clubs in the Open Cup.

“We took each of those matches one by one.  We didn’t really know how strong we were as a club, though we were quite aware that we were very strong defensively,” Simpson noted. “One of our problems was that information about the teams wasn’t that accessible.  We only knew what we had seen on TV and we didn’t have any dvds to review or study these opponents.  We flew by the seat of our pants.”

Flying in the dark proved to suit them well though.

“Seattle was powerless against us. That surprised us.  We didn’t think we would match up that well,” he said of the 1-0 win versus Seattle. “Kansas City was lucky to get away with a 2-1 loss.  We had four or five high quality opportunities to score in that match that could have led to a blow out.  They had one good opportunity and converted.  Mo Johnston did hit one exceptional set piece ball that hit the crossbar, but otherwise they were pretty ineffective against us and seemed quite intimidated.”

The club would rally against San Jose in the next round after allowing a penalty kick goal, equalizing through Shani Simpson and winning through unexpected hero Shane Watkins to face DC.

Leading from a controversial second minute Jaime Moreno penalty, “DC looked content to be conservative. We didn’t seem to have much of a problem with them until Moreno made an unbelievable run from midfield to deep in the attacking third,” said Simpson. “CJ got beat by Moreno.  It was the only time CJ was beaten by a striker in his three years with us.  Moreno got him with a stutter step, then sent the ball to the top of the box to Marco Etcheverry, who gave it to the El Salvadoran striker Raul Diaz Arce.”

The winning goal from the trio, who were top two in MLS scoring (Moreno first, Arce second) and among leaders in assists (Etcheverry sixth) ended the tournament for the Seals despite a late rally on a goal from Marquis White. But although it was over, in retrospect the club’s biggest victory may have been off the field in its final win, the local derby with San Jose.

“During the game we realized that the Clash fans weren’t rooting for the Clash nearly as much as they had been, and those rooting for us seemed to be getting greater in numbers and louder. Later people told us that the Clash fans stopped rooting for the Clash and began to root for the Seals.”