When D.C. United drafted Nick DeLeon with theseventh overall pick in this year's MLS SuperDraft, the Black-and-Red's brasshad little doubt about their choice.
It turns out others weren't so sure.
In the moments after the selection wasannounced, ESPN commentators Alexi Lalas and Taylor Twellman each slammed thedecision. Serving as part of thenetwork's draft coverage, the two former U.S. national team players linedup to question DeLeon's future in MLS.
"I have some questions about - mentally -can he take the rigors of a ten-month MLS season," Twellman said as DeLeonwas shaking hands with commissioner Don Garber. "Because he didn't get off on the right foot down atthe combine."
Lalas took the next - and far harsher - turn indoubting the kind of impact DeLeon might have.
"If D.C. or Ben Olsen is looking at thisplayer right here to change their fortunes and bring them to the promised landand to the playoffs they are in trouble," added the longtime analyst. "But I don't think they are,because Ben Olsen is smarter than that."
Just a few hundred feet away from Lalas andTwellman at the time, DeLeon didn't actually hear the comments that day inKansas City's Convention Center. But in the weeks that followed, the 21-year-old did catch what had beensaid about him.
They were words he could not - and would not -forget.
"Yeah I heard them," DeLeon said witha laugh. "I honestly think about those commentsevery day. I was bitter aboutthem."
The comments were - unlike D.C.'s scouting process- heavily influenced by the MLS combine. DeLeon denies that he showed up out of shape as Twellman said on draftday, but did confirm the former Revolution star's assertion that he had beeninjured during pre-combine testing. The winger says he pulled a quadriceps muscle while running theforty-yard dash, and that the injury - not fitness - limited him during theleague's marquee scouting event.
Fortunately for D.C.'s fans, the club'sopinion on DeLeon was not subject to change.
"It shouldn't have an effect on the draftbut often times it does," United General Manager Dave Kasper said of the combine. "That is the last impression thatclubs have when they are getting into draft day. We got very, very lucky that Nick fell to us.
"We had seen enough. We had heard enough positive things about him to know thatit was a slam-dunk. As we've saidbefore, he was our guy in this draft. He is the guy that we wanted and we gothim."
Olsen made DeLeon a starter just three weeks into the season, and the results speak for themselves. D.C. hasn't lost since his inclusion in the starting eleven, and a pair of well-taken goals on top of a trio of assists have the finishing touch to an attack that needed it.
As for DeLeon, the rookie will soon get achance to prove his critics wrong in person. ESPN is scheduled to televise Sunday's showdown against NewYork, and – fittingly enough – both Lalas and Twellman will be in attendance.
"I actually have a few things if they ever want to talk to mein the future," DeLeon said of his draft day detractors with a smile. "I'll definitely bring itup."
AUDIO: Nick DeLeon on Pitch Pass
