Marvell Wynne had played soccer as long as he can remember.

Soccer was his sport since the age of 3 up through Poway High and two seasons at UCLA.

Then came Major League Soccer.

Wynne, now 33, was the No. 1 pick in the entire draft in 2006 by the New York MetroStars, who became the Red Bulls. He enjoyed several years in the league before reporting for yet another preseason physical exam in 2017.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But, it turned out, everything was wrong. Little did he know, his playing days were over.

Team doctors for the San Jose Earthquakes noticed an abnormality around his heart. An aortic root was enlarged to the point of being a concern.

“I had no problems, no pain, no nothing,’’ the 2004 graduate of Poway High said by phone from his home in Quincy, Illinois.

A CT scan was followed by an MRI before doctors sidelined him until the potentially life-threatening problem was fixed by open heart surgery.

“If I had any symptoms, let’s go fix it,’’ the Pittsburgh native said. “Instead of feeling relieved, I felt great, ready for the season and everything stopped.

“They got me good, a complete TKO right out of my sport.

“As one of my coaches told me after heart surgery, ‘At least we’re speaking to Marvell instead of talking about Marvell.’’’

The son of former major league baseball player and former Padres outfielder Marvell Wynne, he underwent his nine-hour heart surgery at the Stanford Medical Center on March 23, 2017.

His six-inch scar on his chest is hard to find unless you’re looking for it, he said.

“I’m now part of the Zipper Club,’’ Wynne said, laughing.

Wynne took the remainder of 2017 to get back into playing shape.

His surgeon pronounced him fit enough for the MLS, but league doctors still flunked him on his physical.

A panel of surgeons from the Mayo Clinic also turned a thumbs down on Wynne’s return to the field.

“I was clinically depressed for a while,’’ Wynne said. “I didn’t even go home to Poway for Christmas.’’

Wynne, who also played for the USA U20 and U23 teams, faced three recovery options — exercise more but he was already in the best shape of his life — therapy or medication.

In April 2018, he announced his retirement from soccer.

“It’s really scary to know how close I came to dying,’’ Wynne said. “Only a routine physical stood between me and that.

“In 2016, my physical came back a little funny, something to keep an eye on.

“Then it went from good to worse.’’

He visits Stanford once a year for an annual checkup.

Thus far, the aorta graft is doing just fine.

Wynne has taken up running now that soccer was taken away. He has run five half marathons since his surgery.

“I just can’t ignore that competitive side of me,’’ Wynne said. “I’ve been competing since I was 3.’’

Laughing, he added, “I need to find a full-contact half marathon out there.’’

During his playing days, Wynne was traded to Toronto and Colorado before being picked in the re-entry draft by San Jose in 2015.

In 2010, Wynne’s Colorado Rapids won the MLS Cup by beating his former team in Toronto.

“When the final three whistles went off, we were laughing and crying,’’ Wynne said. “It was the best moment in my life along with getting married.’’

In September 2019, Wynne married girlfriend Michele and the couple settled in the Midwest.

“Man, winter here is not like Poway,’’ Wynne said. “I went back for the Alumni Game and the weather was better in Quincy than it was in Poway that weekend.

“I couldn’t play in the game, but at least I got to see my old friends.

“If I see a soccer field or if I see a soccer game on TV, I go back to wishing I could still play.”

But he can’t do what he loves to do.