A couple weeks after he had made his decision to return to the Seattle Sounders, but only hours after it had been announced, Paul Rothrock relaxed by a fire in the tiny hamlet of Mazama. More than 250 miles from Seattle and situated on the east side of the North Cascades in the Methow Valley — that’s pronounced “met-how”, by the way — it’s about as far from anywhere that could be reasonably called a city in all of Washington.
In other words, it’s one of the last places Rothrock was probably expecting to be recognized.
But that’s exactly what happened about halfway through an interview with Sounder at Heart when some Sounders fans felt compelled to tell Rothrock how happy they were that he had re-signed with the team.
It’s little interactions like that which helped Rothrock make his decision, ultimately re-signing with the Sounders on a deal that is guaranteed through the 2028-29 season with an option for 2029-30.
“I do feel the love from the Seattle fans,” Rothrock said. “I do feel like I’m getting to represent something much bigger than myself here.
“It’s fucking cool to be a Sounder and it’s even cooler to be a Seattleite who’s a Sounder.”
It wasn’t always guaranteed that it would end up this way, though.
