It has been quite an impressive soccer career for Brian Dunseth. Born in Upland, California, on March 2, 1977, Dunseth started playing for Upland Celtic and eventually earning an invitation to a tournament in England at the age of 12. Shortly after getting back home, Dunseth was told that he was getting cut. However, he didn’t give up; instead, he started working alongside two ex-convicts and making $2.75 an hour as a dishwasher at a convalescent hospital. And after impressing for Damien High School, Dunseth was one of the last players recruited to Cal State Fullerton, who agreed to pay for his parking, books, and one meal per day, but not his school expenses.

“I grew up in Upland, California; Carlos Bocanegra was from the city over, Tony Beltran was from the city over, Nick Raimondo was from the city down, so we were kind of like a hotbed of really good soccer players,” stated Dunseth in an exclusive Protagonist Soccer interview. “I played for a team called Upland Celtic, and my first coach was a guy named Cle Kooiman, who started the US Men’s National Team opening match of the 1994 FIFA World Cup in Detroit, and who was playing for LA Lazers as well as professional teams like California Kickers. He was just driving around playing for 50 bucks a game, but then, after about a year or so, he ended up going to Juárez, and then effectively got the transfer to Cruz Azul and became the captain, which then got him on the national team. But through all of that, he was my soccer idol. He was a center back, he was big, he was tough. He was sexy as hell. The ladies loved him, all the moms enjoyed him, and they couldn't have asked for a better coach. Cle laid the foundation for what I wanted to try to be.”

After taking his talents to Fullerton, Dunseth made the jump from attacking midfielder to center back, where he remained ever since. Similarly to other unheralded players like Keinan Davis, Dunseth was forced to patiently bide his time and wait for his opportunity, which would finally come in the summer of 1997 when he was called up to represent the United States in Malaysia in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship (now the U-20 World Cup), with the USA beating China before losing to Ireland, Ghana, and Uruguay. He then returned home and became one of the first players to sign a Project-40 (now Generation Adidas) contract, allowing him to enter the fledgling MLS ahead of time and joined New England Revolution.

Dunseth made his New England debut on July 6, 1997, playing a total of 82 times. During that time, he also competed for the US Men’s National Team in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Dunseth was then traded to Miami Fusion in the summer of 2001; unbeknownst to him, Miami were about to be dissolved. He was then selected by Columbus Crew in the 2002 MLS Dispersal Draft, making 46 appearances as the Crew came within inches of making the MLS Cup Final, and helping them beat the Los Angeles Galaxy in the U.S. Open Cup Final. However, his time in Ohio was short-lived, with Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas) signing him in September 2003.

“I ended up buying a house in Columbus; I was playing pretty much every single game. Back then, we didn't have guaranteed contracts: you are semi-guaranteed until a certain date, and that date was the trade deadline. They could either nix your contract, or if you made it to that next day, your contract was through the end of the year, but you could also be traded. We're training at Capital University in Naperville, and we’re playing on turf because we’re set to face Chicago, and Jeff Cunningham pulls a hamstring at practice. I'm like, ‘Damn, but at least we’ve Edson Buttle, Kyle Martino, Brian McBride.’ We were stacked with Columbus; we had so many different options. But that afternoon, I remember the general manager Jim Smith walking over to Greg Androulis after Jeff went down. Jeff and I were on the same amount of money, we were talking because we were buddies, and we told each other everything for negotiation. I went to coach a couple of kids' teams, which I would do because I could supplement and pay for my mortgage, just putting them through sessions. I come back and see 54 missed calls from Greg and Jim; I call Brian and ask, ‘Did you hear anything, did I get traded?’ He said, ‘Of course you didn't get traded, you're a starting center back, why would you get traded?’ Then I call Greg, who says, ‘I need you to come into the office right now.’ I said, ‘I’m not near the office, I’m 35 minutes awa,’ and he says, ‘Just make your way over to the office.”

“I was like, ‘Alright, I'm getting traded. It was weird because I wanted so badly to get traded from New England, and I didn't want to get traded from Columbus. I absolutely loved my life in Columbus. I was so happy with my friends, with my teammates, with my life, with my very first house. And sure enough, I got traded to the Dallas Burn, and Brian was like, ‘Dude, this is so messed up. Jeff was supposed to get traded; that's why you're getting traded, because he got hurt, and because they already have a player signed…it was one of those sliding doors moments. I get down to Dallas and they're terrible, they suck, they're out of the playoffs. Jason Kreis tore his ACL, Steve Morrow had torn his ACL, the GM had quit, and the head coach got fired. In the midst of this, my former national team coach Clive Charles dies, and I said that I'm going to the funeral. They're like, ‘You can't go to the funeral.’ I said, ‘You bet your ass I'm going to the funeral…Clive was like a father to me.’ They said that if I go, we’ll fine you. I said, ‘Do whatever you gotta do, I'm going to the funeral. They didn’t pick up my contract option, they didn’t make an offer, they brought in a new coach, they brought in a new general manager, and because I had gone to Clive's funeral, they just deemed me a horrible person and a problem, and they screwed me over.”

After kicking off his Dallas tenure with three straight defeats (the latter of which saw him score vs. Columbus, Dunseth led the Burn to victory against Chicago, only to suffer lopsided defeats to the Earthquakes and Revolution. A goalless draw followed against the MetroStars before losing 1-0 to the Wizards. And on October 24, 2003, he made the ninth and final appearance of his Dallas career, beating Colorado 4-3, before making the move to Swedish side Bodens BK.

Whilst Dunseth never quite managed to make an impression in Dallas, he nevertheless made his mark on various other teams. Similarly to others like Wayne Thomas, Dunseth was able to benefit from his time abroad and parlay that into a career resurgence. He made the move to Real Salt Lake in 2005, where he played 24 times before being traded to Chivas USA for Douglas Sequeira and Christian Jimenez. However, he didn’t play once for them before being traded to the Galaxy, becoming the first-ever player in MLS history to be on the roster of seven different teams. And in July 2006, he decided to call it quits on his playing career and make the transition to broadcasting. Fast-forward two decades, and he’s now living in Salt Lake and working as a pundit for Apple TV’s MLS coverage alongside his co-commentator Max Bretos.

“I remember walking in with my headset, talking, and in real time, I had no idea what was happening. I just BSd it, and that's kind of the pathway that led to chances with Fox Soccer Channel, with ESPN, with NBC Sports. Subsequently now with Apple TV, it got me in front of the SiriusXM crew, it got me with Turner in my tryouts to cover the US Men's National Team, which led in the FIFA Club World Cup and being the number one analyst for them. I've just figured it out, and it got to the point with Fox where they ended up starting to buy me flights, and put me up in hotels, and give me per diem, and all that stuff. Back then, you’d go down and try to do three games, because between food and gas and travel, I probably netted a couple hundred bucks per week, per game. I never wanted to move, I never moved to Connecticut, never moved down to LA, I just decided that I wanted to raise my family here and stay in Salt Lake City. If I had to travel, if I was good enough, they would pay for me, and now, this is Year Three of being a part of Apple TV’s MLS coverage with Max.”

- by Zach Lowy