The relationship between a team’s general manager and their players is often a distanced one. Moneyball pioneer Billy Beane famously had a rule where he didn’t “mingle” with the men on his Oakland A’s roster. To him, it made the process of building a roster less efficient and more emotional.



After last month’s USL Championship Final victory, however, Real Monarchs’ architect was a major part of the team’s on-field celebrations. Players were eager to approach Monarchs general manager Dan Egner for hugs and daps. He was able to get his hands on the trophy, arm-in-arm with the players and coaches that did the work on the pitch. At 30 years old, he could be seen as a peer — after all, he was younger than starting midfielder Luke Mulholland.



After the win, Egner broke a five-month Twitter silence.



“I don’t tweet often, but words cannot describe what I’m feeling right now,” he...