On June 4, 2011, Julian Vazquez waited with his teammates inside the players tunnel at Rio Tinto Stadium waiting to escort Real Salt Lake and Vancouver Whitecaps onto the field prior to the match. As the starters from both sides filed into the tunnel, Vazquez stood at the front of the line to see who he’d be walking out to the field with. In awe and amazement, RSL captain Kyle Beckerman took Julian’s hand and the two walked onto the Rio Tinto Stadium pitch together.
Seven years later, RSL receded into the locker room at halftime of its match with the Portland Timbers with the newest member of the club waiting in the same tunnel with his family, anxiously awaiting his announcement as the newest member to the club’s roster.