After a knee injury ended his hopes of being part of the 2005 Major League Soccer (MLS) SuperDraft three months ago, former Nittany Lion Chad Severs is back turning his dream of playing professional soccer into reality.
Just last week, Severs might have found a new home with a team from the First Division of the United Soccer Leagues (USL), the Rochester Raging Rhinos. After seeing Severs try out, the Rhinos invited him back for preseason play. While he is looking forward to being back in the game, Severs is not taking anything for granted.
"There are no guarantees until the contract is signed and I have officially earned one of the spots on their 26-man roster," he said.
"I am one step closer to signing with a team, though, and I'm really looking forward to finally being able to pull it all together and show what I have to offer on the field."
Graduating last December, a semester early, Severs had full intentions of beginning his professional career right away. When he found himself among the 66 college seniors chosen to participate in the MLS Combine in Carson, Calif., in January, he was thrilled with the opportunity to play professionally without having to go overseas.
"I first fell in love with the game when I was 4-years-old, but the MLS wasn't around for players in their youth, like myself, to look up to," Severs said. "So when the league started in the U.S. about 10 years ago, I made it my goal to some day get signed."
The 2005 MLS Combine began Jan. 8, with general managers and members of all 12 MLS coaching staffs in attendance. What followed, however, did not exactly go as planned, as Severs was forced to deal with an injury that gave him no choice but to watch the remaining games from the sideline.
Severs ended up twisting his knee on a field made slippery by heavy rain and was taken out of competition. After he had several trainers check the injury, however, no one could tell him exactly what was wrong with it. Not entirely sure how major the injury was, Severs sat out the next few days of the combine to make sure he didn't aggravate his knee further. When he finally got word that it was just a sprain, the last day of the tryout was nearly complete.
"It was unfortunate that he picked up the injury and that there was confusion with the doctor clearing him," Penn State coach Barry Gorman said. "It was a competitive situation because there were a lot of players and a limited number of teams. Getting hurt eliminated almost all chances of getting noticed."
Faced with an unexpected turn of events, Severs did not have the chance to showcase himself much, and went undrafted. As the former Lion began considering his other options, Severs drew interest almost immediately from several USL Second Division teams, but he decided to give some First Division teams his best shot. Several tryouts later, Severs was asked to return to the Rhinos and take part in their preseason.
"I think that starting at a lower level will ultimately contribute to his success later because now he'll be able to gain professional respect over a season or two," Gorman said.
Looking back, Severs gave lot of credit to the Penn State soccer program, calling it one of the best in the country and also saying it is the reason he feels ready to play at the professional level. In addition to the coaching staff and facilities, Severs said the biggest thing that helped him through the tough tryout period was the ever-present competition among his teammates.
"I was always looking over my shoulder at Penn State making sure that a younger player wasn't going to take my spot," he said.
With the hope of still making it into the MLS someday, Severs said that when his days of playing professional soccer are over, he hopes to get involved in sports administration as an athletic director. Until then, he is taking it one dream at a time, starting with the USL's Raging Rhinos.
