How long will Zusi keep playing? Sporting KC star opens up about 2020, and what’s next

Graham Zusi was no stranger to Peter Vermes’ office early in his career.

A second-round pick by the Kansas City Wizards in 2009 and two-time NCAA national champion with Maryland, Zusi was all about winning. He’d scored championship goals and accumulated a combined 48 goals and assists during his time in College Park, Md.

But early in his tenure with Sporting, the then 22-year-old winger was doing more watching from the sidelines than running down the sidelines.

The future seven-time MLS All-Star was seeing some playing time, sure, tallying 15 appearances in 2009 after making his pro debut in a season-opening loss to Toronto.

But it wasn’t enough.

“’Hey, I feel like I deserve a shot, and when is it going to come?’” Zusi would ask Vermes — repeatedly.

Each time Zusi pressed, Vermes offered the same response: Be patient. Your time is going to come.

“(Peter) said when that opportunity comes, you’ve going to have to take advantage of it,” Zusi said. “And that really stuck with me.”

His shot as a full-time starter finally arrived two seasons later. He became a mainstay throughout the 2011 season, helping newly re-branded Sporting KC secure an Eastern Conference championship. Zusi made 32 MLS appearances that season, scoring five goals with a team-high seven assists.

A decade later, Zusi no longer has to worry about his playing time. He became a converted right-back in 2017 after scoring just four league goals in the previous two seasons, and he has thrived in that role ever since.

No longer concerned about getting opportunities, Zusi has begun contemplating something quite different:

How long he’s got left in the game, and what his life will look like after soccer.

Under contract through 2021

Zusi, 33, has two years remaining on his contract with Sporting, the only MLS team he’s known, and that sees him through 2021. He’s still Kansas City’s top right-back, and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon.

But one of the city’s most recognizable sports figures will be 35 by the time his current contract expires.

“At this point in my career, as a number, that tends to be a number where you’re getting toward the end,” Zusi told The Star.

When asked whether he plans to continue playing past the end of his current contract, Zusi paused. After a couple of seconds, he had an unequivocal answer:

Yes.

“I know my body extremely well and I’ve been able to get into a very good routine during the season and also during the offseason, where I still feel very, very good,” he said. “As long as that continues, I plan on playing, and not only playing but being competitive.”

None of this is to imply that Zusi isn’t planning prudently for his eventual retirement. For instance, he wants to get into real estate. He already owns several properties and has been reading about other ventures and strategies. He sees real estate as a means of keeping the money flowing once he hangs up his boots.

But he says his passion is charity.

“What I’ve really enjoyed most throughout my career is doing charitable work,” Zusi said. “It’s something that I’m very passionate about, so I could really see myself either starting my own charitable corporation or joining something that I feel strongly about.”

Zusi’s benevolent interests are three-pronged: childhood care, animals and the environment.

He’s worked with the Kansas City Pet Project via multiple partnerships through Sporting KC. He’s teamed on multiple occasions with Kansas City Clothing Company, which has aided not only the KC Pet Project but raises money to combat childhood cancer. With close friend and KC Clothing owner Jeff Miles, he’s helped create superhero shirts that enable kids to “become” superheroes. Proceeds benefit cancer care and research for children.

“I don’t have any stock in the company — just through our friendship, I’ve been able to work with him and we’ve done a few collaborations,” Zusi said. “He’s a great dude and always seems to just find some great causes to work toward.”

As for the environment, Zusi enjoys traveling and wants to help preserve Earths wonders for generations to come. He has a bucket list of places he wants to visit, despite having journeyed extensively already through his 55 appearances with the U.S. Men’s National Team.

A couple of years ago, he backpacked through the Torres del Paine in Patagonia. He dreams of visiting Africa and Southeast Asia.

“With my love for travel and being in the outdoors, I want to see the world not dwindle in front of our eyes,” Zusi said. “So that’s another thing I feel strongly about.”

New forms of leadership

Zusi has found himself in an unexpected role this year. He’s used to the leadership, being one of the more senior players on the team, but 2020 has been a little different.

“The times that we’re in at the moment are unprecedented and something that none of us in our lifetime have experienced, and we’re kind of taking it as it comes,” he said.

In the face of an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that’s put MLS on hold since March, Zusi has been one of several players in the league who’ve pushed a message of sensibility during the global crisis. He’s especially tried to encourage his younger teammates to act responsibly and think of how the outbreak — and irresponsibility toward it — might affect others.

Heading into the MLS is Back tournament, which begins July 8 in his home state of Florida, Zusi says he has been impressed by the maturity his teammates have shown in recent months. Sporting KC has reported no positive COVID-19 test results to date, even as cases have mushroomed across the nation.

He acknowledges that while many younger players are tempted to go out and socialize both in Kansas City and Orlando, they’ve generally done well to remain professional and think of the greater good.

“I was very proud of the way that the guys took this; it’s something we’re trying to tackle as a world,” he said, noting that he’s spent much of his own downtime inside, educating himself about systemic racism through the reading of various literary works. “We’re trying to get rid of this. Not that we’ll be able to get rid of it, but take the necessary steps to make sure that we’re being responsible and protecting not only ourselves but everyone out there, as well.”

One of those younger players is Sporting KC teammate and protegee Jaylin Lindsey.

“I’m a huge fan of Jay,” Zusi said. “I think he’s an extremely talented young player, and he’s doing all the right things in terms of his development and his attitude.”

A 20-year-old homegrown player signed by Sporting in 2017, Lindsay has made eight MLS appearances so far. In some ways, Lindsay reminds Zusi of himself early in his career, when he was toiling behind veteran teammates Jack Jewsbury and Davy Arnaud, and learning from guys like Jewsbury, Arnaud, Josh Wolff and Jimmy Conrad.

“As a former incoming player who was trying to break into the squad, I know how it can be frustrating at times and you feel like you’re not getting your shot,” Zusi said.

Now the wizened veteran, Zusi believes in returning a favor that the club’s former veterans once afforded him.

“They were teachers, they were mentors, and that’s something I never forgot in terms of my development,” Zusi said. “I feel like it’s my job to do the same with the young guys here, and Jay is no different. I know he’s my direct competition, but that’s what drives me, as well, so I do whatever I can to pull him along.

“And when my time is done, I know that it’ll be in good hands.”

This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 1:18 PM with the headline "How long will Zusi keep playing? Sporting KC star opens up about 2020, and what’s next."