Andrew Farrell Reflects On Setting A Number Of Revolution Records: 'I Just Love To Play'
FOXBORO (CBS) --Since being drafted first overall in 2013, Andrew Farrell has played a lot of soccer for the New England Revolution. More than anyone else, to be exact.
The Revolution will honor Farrell ahead of Saturday night's match against the Columbus Crew at Gillette Stadium for setting a number of franchise records throughout the season. Included in that laundry list of lifetime achievements is Farrell's spot atop the Revs leaderboard in career starts, appearances, and minutes played.
The defender is not one to speak of his own accomplishments. For someone who is so good at what he does -- and Farrell is really darn good at what he does for the Revs -- he isn't one to demand the spotlight.
"I just love to play," Farrell told WBZ-TV's Levan Reid for Saturday's Revolution Kickoff Special, airing on TV38 ahead of New England's match against Columbus. "Being available and your team being able to count on you is really important in sports. You only have a career for so long, so I want to maximize it for the most of my ability. I love paying, whether it's a light practice or a hard practice. It's so much fun with this team; it's like a family and you want to be with your family."
Family is extremely important to Farrell, whether it's his teammates or his actual family. Both of his parents are missionaries, and instilled an incredible set of morals in Farrell and his siblings.
"My parents are awesome, obviously. They're my role models and they're always giving back. That's something they instilled in me, my brother and my sister. We can make this world a better place if we help out and do things for each other," he said. "I take that into my life whether it's on the field or off the field. All my morals, all the good things about me, I got from my parents."
Farrell was born in Louisville and spent his college career with the Cardinals, but he fell in love with soccer when he moved to Peru when he was a kid. He spent a decade in the country, developing a lot of the skills you see on the pitch each and every weekend.
"Everybody plays when they're young. When I was five I moved to South America, I moved to Peru for 10 years. Everywhere but the states, soccer is the biggest thing in the world," he said. "That culture made me want to play, and when I got back I wanted to turn pro."
That dream came true when the Revolution traded up and used the first overall pick of the 2013 MLS SuperDraft on Farrell. He's been a stabilizing force in New England ever since, and will eventually go down as one of the greatest players to don a Revolution uniform.
"I stick to my own keys. My college coach at Louisville told me to do what I've done to get to this point and not to be somebody I'm not. I'm not going to try to score 10 goals a season," he said. "I just tried to improve who am I and I feel like I have over the 10 years."
Catch Levan Reid's full 1-on-1 with Andrew Farrell on Saturday night's Revolution Kickoff Special on TV38 at 6:30pm, leading up to kickoff of Revolution-Columbus Crew at Gillette Stadium!
