In all honesty, MLS Comeback Player of the Year has been something of an odd duck, and one where the choices don’t always make sense.
Eddie Johnson won in 2012, and I am still attempting to understand what exactly the man “came back” from? Yes, his career was on the brink of extinction, and I suppose that’s it. But don’t we usually think about players overcoming injury – not overcoming their own career decisions and inability to catch on overseas?
But that wasn’t as weird as the year before; the time line of injury and recovery didn’t exactly jibe as David Beckham was named MLS top comebacker for 2011.
Bobby Convey claimed the award in 2010, but … uh … what? Convey played in 26 matches in 2009, so whatever he was “coming back” from was apparently a well-kept secret.
At any rate, we come to the award in 2013, and now we land on a truly worthy choice in New England’s Kevin Alston.
Alston, a four-year starter at Gillette Stadium, had to take break from all things soccer in April when he was diagnosed with a treatable form of leukemia. He returned to the field in late July after four-and-a-half months of treatment.