Before they became entrenched starters on the New York Red Bulls, Tim Parker and Sean Davis were friends. Both are the same age (26), and both grew up just outside of New York City, albeit on opposite sides of Manhattan – Parker on Long Island, and Davis in Jersey. Still, the two played on an Olympic Development Program team together while in high school, and since that time Parker says some things haven’t changed at all.



Parker remembers Davis as being quiet and reserved, attributes that the Red Bulls midfielder still possesses to this day. Davis doesn’t seek attention and is more content to slink away from the locker room without standing in the glare of the television cameras or answering questions about his play. It simply isn’t within him, either on the field or away from it, to seek attention.



Now, however, Davis can’t avoid that spotlight. Entering his fifth year in MLS, the recently turned 26-year old Davis is the old man of this...