ORLANDO

Michael Bradley — A Soccer Life should be the title of his future autobiography.

It begins with the now-28-year-old looking back on an era that triggered his ascension.

Before he eclipsed his father — renowned American soccer coach Bob Bradley — in notoriety, Michael cut his teeth with Bob’s MLS team.

Michael cleaned boots and folded laundry. He shagged balls and organized things properly. At 11, he was more or less a Chicago Fire intern in 1998.

“Part of it for me — and a big part of it for my dad — was that if I was going to be around I wasn’t just going to be sitting around doing nothing,” Michael told the Toronto Sun during a sit-down interview at Toronto FC’s team hotel outside Orlando.

“We’d get there in the morning and I’d help the equipment manager. I’d make sure everything was set out and organized. During training, I’d grab balls and pick up cones.”

The reward — well before his stardom — was rubbing elbows with some of the best players in the league — guys such as Chicago Fire legend Chris Armas or Jesse Marsch or Ante Razov.

“I just remember a kid lingering and hanging around,” Armas, now an assistant coach with Red Bull New York, said during a chat between the three of us on Friday evening.

Tomorrow's @TheTorontoSun - I sit down w/ Bradley and #CF97 legend Armas to talk Michael before he was "Michael". pic.twitter.com/NHWRE6mOyU — Kurtis Larson (@KurtLarSUN) February 27, 2016

“He’d come in early with his dad — stop at the bagel store on the way in — and he’d hang around all day.”

Absorbing. Listening. Mimicking hardened professionals from an early age. Taking full advantage of an opportunity he understood most kids didn’t get.

“There were little moments of banter and connecting when we were warming up around the field,” Armas told the Sun.

“I’d say, ‘Hey Michael, what did you think of the game last night?’ I can remember vividly. He’d have his thoughts. But were they his thoughts? Or his dad’s thoughts? You didn’t know, but he had something to say.”

Added Armas: “There must have been a lot going on in his mind.”

'REAL PEOPLE'

If A Soccer Life is the name of Michael’s future autobiography, in literature speak, Inside the mind of Michael Bradley could be a mystery.

On this day, though, Michael frequently grins while reminiscing. He’s with a former mentor he refers to as an older brother — a “real” person who’s always going to be there.

“For me, the main thing was the way those guys treated me,” Michael explained. “They didn’t treat me like I was just a little kid hanging around.

“They treated me like a young professional on the inside of that locker room. I learned what it meant to be a professional at such a young age from these guys.”

Guys such as Armas, who recalls taking Michael on long recovery runs along the lake when he was returning from injury.

Talking was minimal. The pace was such that it made speaking inconceivable.

“I’d check in a few times with the pace,” Armas remembers. “I knew I was moving fast, but Michael was right there.”

Those runs, Michael replied, sparked the competitive M.O. he has come to be known for.

“We’d try and beat our time from the previous day,” Michael said. “Those runs with Chris taught me what it meant to compete and push yourself. I was lucky to learn these things at a young age.”

For Armas, the 11-year-old kid was more than his coach’s son. He was someone with an abnormal amount of passion. He was someone constantly looking for guidance and information.

“I knew he was looking to me sometimes,” said Armas, recalling the time he bought Michael a necklace similar to the one he donned.

Michael, sitting in a chair across from Armas, briefly perked up as he recalled the exchange.

“I knew back then he was looking my way,” Armas continued. “Sometimes I’d stay after training just to work with him. It wasn’t just the coach’s son. It was a kid who loved it, who listened, who was there.”

GROWING UP

Years later, Michael’s attendance at Chicago Fire training moved beyond ball shagging and boot cleaning.

Now a teen, the coach’s son joined in small possession games.

“When he’d fall down, he’d get up,” Armas said. “Bob wouldn’t call fouls against him. Michael would say, ‘Don’t take it easy.’

“You could see clearly — after the fact he loved the game and had passion — that he was really comfortable with the ball and that he was able to see things.

“He thought quickly. He barely lost the ball. He always saw the next thing.

“I’d talk to Bob and say, ‘Hey, he’s got something.’ ”

Michael followed up with a more simple analysis of his talent as a kid: “If I had ruined every training it would have ended really quick.”

Of course, Michael’s “Soccer Life” extended beyond the training facility.

Following night games at Soldier Field, the Bradley family — his mom and two sisters — would return home after the proceedings.

Michael, though, would wait for Bob to discuss what he’d witnessed.

“I’d stick around until the bitter end and I’d drive home with my dad,” Michael recalled. “It was midnight, whatever. Maybe I had a State Cup game the next day.

“But, whatever, we’d be driving home and be talking about the game. For me, the part I can always remember is talking about how Chris played.”

NOW AN OPPONENT

It wasn’t long before he was playing against him.

At 16, Michael was drafted 36th overall by the New York Metrostars. In 2005, he remembers lining up opposite the team he grew up learning from — not to mention some of his mentors.

“How many times did we play each other?” Armas asked Michael.

“Probably two or three,” Michael responded. “There was that game where we actually beat you guys 3-0 a Soldier Field.”

Armas — leaning back in his seat — couldn’t recall it.

“For me, it was like the ultimate test,” Michael added. “The way Chris read things and how quick he was to understand situations and put out fires … If you took one touch that was lazy he was coming.”

In a matter of five years the kid “hanging around” Chicago Fire training was a full-blown professional, the next big thing.

Michael was sold on to Europe where he stayed for eight years, playing in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy.

“Man, I was just so happy when he went to Europe and I saw how well he was doing,” Armas said.

“He’s the best American soccer player. This is that little guy. To know him that way and to see that …”

Armas couldn’t find words to finish the sentence.

'BEST FRIENDS'

No matter, Michael picked up on the surreal nature of the situation.

Two U.S. internationals, who share a unique history, chatting two decades later before the start of Major League Soccer’s 21st season.

The league was in its third year when Michael and Armas first interacted.

“As you get older, you have family of your own and a son of your own,” Michael said philosophically. “Your perspective on things broadens. Your ability to look at things and understand changes.

“Who are the real people? Who can you count on when things are no good? Who’s going to be there?

“When I see Chris and these guys, they’re some of the best friends that I have in the entire world. They’re guys who — when push comes to shove — are there for me.”

Michael, now Toronto FC’s captain, will lead the Reds to play Armas’ Red Bulls on March 6.

The conversation ended with a look toward that game.

“He’s going to make his plays,” Armas said. “I’m always rooting for Michael.”

Michael chimed in: “At some point, we’ll be back on the same side. At some point.”

“I won’t rule that out,” Armas added. “You never know.”