Michael Bradley was sitting alone in a Newport Beach hotel, basking in the afterglow of Toronto FC’s 2017 MLS Cup win. With the title out of the way, he thought about the kind of player he wanted to become and the kind of legacy he wanted to leave.



He didn’t have to think long. The player he kept going back to was Francesco Totti, the legendary Italian midfielder who spent his entire 24-year club career at AS Roma.



Bradley had just delivered a championship with a single game performance for the ages. In thinking of Totti, Bradley made a decision: he wanted to stay with TFC for the rest of his career, even when his stock was high.



“When I think back now to the way (Totti) carried himself, the aura he had, the way he treated his teammates whether you were the biggest or the smallest player, the strength he showed in difficult moments, the loyalty, I still draw on that now,” said Bradley, who played with Totti for two and a half seasons...