Every Saturday, Colorado Rapids goalkeepers coach Chris Sharpe wakes up early, heads down to his living room and turns on the Premier League. When Tim Howard appears on the TV screen to analyze matches, Sharpe’s 3-year-old son, Jaxon, joins him.
“Uncle Timmy!” Jaxon says, pointing his fingers at the screen with his eyes wide.
Some days, Jaxon will stay put and watch whatever match is on display. Other times, he’ll go back to kicking a soccer ball around or playing with toys. But the excitement never wanes when Uncle Timmy is on TV.
Jaxon might be too young to fully comprehend what Howard is talking about on TV, but there are days when Howard’s words are in part taken right from his dad. Before Howard and his “Premier League on NBC” co-hosts, Rebecca Lowe and Robbie Earle, go on the air, he’ll text Sharpe and ask for his viewpoint — especially if a goalkeeper is one of the topics on the docket — and sometimes repeats it on live TV.
When Howard is inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame on Saturday, Sharpe will be the one talking on camera as he introduces his star pupil and close friend on the stage in Frisco, Texas. The moment will stand as a testament to the special bond formed and nurtured during their relatively short time together in Colorado — and one that still lingers to this day.
“I think the best way I can describe (the relationship) is just the trust between him and myself,” Sharpe said.
A blessing in disguise
Of all the highs and lows of Howard’s time in a Rapids jersey, a four-month stretch between the end of 2016 to the beginning of 2017 is burned into Sharpe’s memory.
It began with perhaps the deepest pit of Howard’s four seasons in Colorado.
“I’ll never forget it. I can still feel it, look,” Sharpe said, pointing to goosebumps on his arms eight years later.
Howard never favored one-off performances like his 15 saves against Belgium in the 2014 World Cup. Instead, he was most driven by consistent performance, which made the pursuit of appearing in the 2018 World Cup — which would have been his fourth and final go around on soccer’s biggest stage — relentless.
The U.S. men’s national team played Mexico in a World Cup qualifier less than a week after the Rapids beat the LA Galaxy in penalties to reach the 2016 Western Conference Final — Howard made two enormous saves.
Howard texted Sharpe that week complaining of persistent groin pain. Watching from home, Sharpe noticed Howard’s kicks were short and off-target. Something wasn’t right.
In the 35th minute, he watched his goalkeeper go down in pain. Howard tried to continue, but signaled to be subbed off five minutes later after laboring to make a routine save. It was later revealed that he’d suffered a significant groin injury.
Tim Howard (1) of the United States is helped off of the field after being injured in the first half against Mexico during the FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifier at MAPFRE Stadium on November 11, 2016 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
Sharpe sank into the cushions of the same couch he and his son now share on Premier League match days, struggling and ultimately failing to hold back tears.
After the game, the two talked, exchanged plans for the road back and shed a few more tears. Then, it was time to get back to work.
Howard, 37 at the time, admits now that he knew the injury could have ended his career. Sharpe didn’t want to allow such thoughts to fester.
So on the walls of various rooms inside Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Sharpe posted the date of a game early in 2017 against New York Red Bulls in which he had to play to be eligible for a World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica.
It was all the encouragement Howard needed.
“The work he put in was phenomenal to do at that age,” Sharpe said. “And that motivation was frightening. It’s all the stuff people don’t see behind the scenes that make it unbelievable. Every day, religiously, he was in the gym, in the rehab facility, just constantly working at it. In the end, he did it probably six weeks shorter than anyone thought he would.”
Trinidad & Tobago forward Kenwyne Jones (9) attempts a headers over United States goalkeeper Tim Howard (1) during the first half on June 8, 2017 during a World Cup soccer qualifying match in Commerce City, Colorado at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The ball just missed going in the goal on the play. (Photo by John Leyba/The Denver Post)
Howard returned to play four months later on the exact date on the wall. To this day, that is what raises the hair on Sharpe’s arms.
Later that year, the USMNT’s World Cup hopes vanished with an infamous 2-1 loss at Trinidad and Tobago, and with it, Howard’s aspiration of a fourth trip to soccer’s grandest stage.
“Probably once or twice in my life have I ever felt … that pressure on my chest,” Howard said. “We failed. We lost.”
“Yes, we’ve done it”
The Secretary of Defense typically set aside a particular celebration for some of his biggest moments: Find something to kick. It didn’t matter if it was a goalpost, a stanchion or advertisement boards. When Howard made a big save, get out of his way.
Both Sharpe and Rapids president Pádraig Smith fondly remember when he brought it out for his biggest moment in Colorado, both of them touting it as one of their favorite memories of Howard in a Rapids jersey.
In a penalty shootout against the LA Galaxy in the 2016 MLS Western Conference semifinals, Howard dove to his right to save a relatively weak attempt by Ashley Cole. The stop all but clinched the contest in front of a sold-out DSGP.
After he denied former Rapid Jeff Larentowicz on the next attempt to win the match and send the Rapids to their first conference finals since 2010, Howard did not look for anything to kick. Instead, he simply wagged his finger in the air and nodded. The job was finished.
“It’s easy to think of that game. He was absolutely terrific,” Smith said. “When I think of Tim, I think of the performances day in and day out. At training, in games, the standards he held himself to and the standards he demanded of others really helped advance the club and show the type of professional he was.
Tim Howard (1) of the Colorado Rockies celebrates after making a save during penalty kicks against Ashley Cole (3) of the Los Angeles Galaxy at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Nov. 6, 2016 in Commerce City. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Special to the Denver Post)
“It would have been very easy for him to come over here, as many others have done at the latter stages of their career, and take it easy. He did not. He came here to win.”
L.A. scored on just one of four attempts. Howard dove the right direction all four times, and it was no fluke. He and Sharpe worked tirelessly in the film room to determine who on the Galaxy would take penalties and where they’d go.
When he fought his way back to action after his injury in the ensuing months, Howard was quick to remind the world he was still there both physically and emotionally.
In his return match against RBNY, he made a few routine saves early. But a top-class stop against MLS legend Bradley Wright-Phillips in the 23rd minute sparked something. After sprawling for the stop, he lunged back to his goal in celebration, pumping his fists while beating his chest and forehead with his gloves.
“He looked over at me and it was like, ‘Yes, we’ve done it,’” Sharpe said. “I remember that week was just joyous because of all the work he put in, and I can take no credit for it. I was just by his side and nudged him along. … His reaction to that save was everything he worked for. It was an amazing moment in time with him and I think those four months (recovering) probably built our whole relationship.”
End of an era, start of new life
At 40 years old, Howard entered what would be his final season with the Rapids in 2019.
Here and there, he’d pick up an injury, causing him to play a match then rest for a couple in cycles.
Colorado Rapids goalkeeper Tim Howard sits on the pitch after giving up a goal to the Houston Dynamo during the first half of an MLS soccer match Saturday, March 30, 2019, in Commerce City, Colo. Houston won 4-1. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Toward the end of the season, in a game against RBNY, he had to play “half of the second half” using only his left foot because of a lingering right calf injury, according to Sharpe. In the locker room following the match, Sharpe knew something was up.
“He walked into the dressing room after the game and I didn’t say anything to him,” Sharpe said. “But when he sat next to me — I’ll never forget it — he put his head on my shoulder and started to cry. He knew it was coming to an end. … His body just couldn’t sustain the rigors of training and the rigors of 90 minutes.”
Howard missed a month after the RBNY game and played just two more matches for the Rapids that season: a 3-0 win over FC Dallas in his last home game and a 3-1 loss away at LAFC. He came out of retirement to play six matches for USL Championship side Memphis 901 FC the following year but hasn’t played professionally since.
Tim Howard of the United States Mens National Team speaks with members of the press on June 7, 2017 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City. On June 8, the USMNT will take on Trinidad & Tobago. (Photo by Gabriel Scarlett/The Denver Post)
Howard and Sharpe never reminisced on the stretch of injury recovery that cultivated their unique partnership. But to this day, it still hangs in the background of their friendship.
“It was a time that galvanized our relationship as a coach and a player, as two friends,” Sharpe said.
As his coach, Howard learned plenty from Sharpe in four years in Colorado, particularly on the road to recovery in 2016. Not long after his retirement, Howard, a father of two, returned the favor tenfold with words of wisdom regarding fatherhood.
“When my wife and I had my son, Tim said, ‘Chris, he’s going to change your world. Football is going to become second to what the child gives you,’” Sharpe said. “Football has always been my life, but now … Tim was absolutely right.”
These days, when Sharpe and his son watch Howard and soccer matches on TV together, sometimes he can’t help but reflect on the moments, good or bad, that forged a lifelong bond.
Sharpe will not share a couch with his son this Saturday, but Jaxon will be among the many faces in Texas listening as Sharpe shares those stories on stage alongside Uncle Timmy.
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