Former US national team and MLS goalkeeper Tim Howard began his involvement with Memphis 901 FC as a partial owner. Then came the news in January would be the club's sporting director. And on Wednesday, he added a new job description that feels a lot like an old one: goalkeeper.

The former US national team No 1 in net signed a contract to resume his playing career with the USL Championship club, ending a brief retirement after the end of the 2019 MLS season before it really began.

TURN UP THE VOLUME 🔊@TimHowardGK is ready to #DefendMemphis — Memphis 901 FC (@Memphis901FC) March 4, 2020

He will also stay on in his other roles as co-owner and sporting director.

“Since my retirement in October, my obsession for football has grown," the 40-year-old Howard said in a statement. "The desire to win continues to drive me. I love to play and I love to compete, this gives me the opportunity to do both.”

Howard announced his previous retirement early in 2019, and finished the season playing 25 games in his fourth and final MLS season with the Colorado Rapids.

In total, Howard had 185 MLS appearances across two stretches, with the New York MetroStars from 1998-2003 and then the Rapids from 2016-2019. In between, he spent more than a decade, first at Manchester United and then Everton, where he became a club fixture.

Internationally, Howard was the de facto American starter for the better part of a decade, and started all four of the US's matches in the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups and also was a reserve for the 2006 squad in Germany.