Before any men’s soccer game, the same mix of songs play from Jeffrey Field’s speakers at Penn State U., the teams run around in their pre-practice routine and fans scatter about the bleachers.
Jason Yeisley had experienced this ritual countless times before, but this past Saturday, he found a new pre-game scene marked by balloons, drums and streamers in addition to music.
Penn State hadn’t changed anything. In fact, the Lions didn’t even play Saturday. Instead, Yeisley was 1382 miles away in Dallas for his first professional game against Houston. Though not playing, he dressed for FC Dallas’ opening regular-season matchup after a minor left knee sprain sidelined him for two weeks of training camp. But the setback didn’t deter him.
“I owe a lot to the coaching staff,” Yeisley said, “for keeping me around.”
Along with help from a delayed roster compliance — because of the expiring Major League Soccer collective bargaining agreement — FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman said Yeisley won the spot with determination, just like he had after recovering from two season-ending knee injuries suffered during his sophomore and junior years.
Yeisley’s soccer career will no longer be equated with State College, blue-and-white jerseys or schoolwork. The forward signed a contract with FC Dallas for about the league minimum, he said. With the new collective bargaining agreement in place, the developmental minimum stands at $31,250.
The former Nittany Lion, who graduated in December, rents an apartment only a mile away from Pizza Hut Park in Dallas. He lives by himself and admits the new experience, living so far away from State College and his hometown of Allentown, is strange, but he plans on working harder and winning a spot on the FC Dallas first team.
“He helped establish the work ethic,” Hyndman said. “He’s helping some of the veteran players raise their standards.”
Hyndman said Yeisley wouldn’t stop pushing himself during training camp and exhibitions. At one instance, after being fouled and knocked around, the MLS rookie immediately stood up, not complaining to the referees, and refocused on the game.
Hyndman made the decision to keep Yeisley based, in part, on Penn State coach Barry Gorman’s advice. Before drafting Yeisley, Hyndman knew he was getting a quality player in Yeisley because the former Lion developed his game at the hands of Gorman, known as a true teacher of the game.
Gorman doesn’t recall exactly what he said to help convince Hyndman of keeping Yeisley, but he always told the FC Dallas coach of Yeisley’s potential.
“Jason’s one of those guys,” Gorman said, “that says, ‘Never die.’ ”
Gorman talked to Yeisley after the training-camp injury. The former Lion was deep in thought and blamed himself for the injury, noting he was off-balance going into the tackle. But the humble forward refused to blame anything or anyone other than himself — it wasn’t an unfortunate circumstance just something he could have done differently.
“It doesn’t matter what we do,” Hyndman said. “He treats it like it’s a game.”