Brad Evans stood toward the back of the makeshift podium, his street clothes a notable contrast to the green jerseys most of his teammates wore.
Osvaldo Alonso donned the captain’s armband for the second leg of the Western Conference finals series between the Sounders and Colorado Rapids. Alonso was the one with first dibs on lifting the cup, clutching the silver trophy with both hands as confetti twirled green and blue around him.
In any of the past few postseasons – heck, even now, if only he were healthy – that would have been Evans standing front and center.