Feilhaber on Retirement: He Had Options, Over-30 League, Running is Hard

As you have likely heard, former Sporting Kansas City legend Benny Feilhaber recently retired. He recently was a guest on The Border Patrol on 810 WHB where he talked about retirement and gave some insight into the process as well as some hilarious conversations about his over-30 league team, Hot Guys United, and what is coming next for him.

Benny Had Options

In the interview, it sounded like Feilhaber was mainly interested in playing for Sporting Kansas City and Los Angeles Football Club. He talked about having a conversation with Peter Vermes and how the team was looking to get younger. While LAFC is already pretty young and wanted to stay that way too.

“[Retirement] was an easier decision than I would have anticipated. If you had asked me three months ago, at the end of last year, I would have said I wanted to play one more year,” Feilhaber said. “But if I’m moving my family for a year, it would have to be to a team that was going to be competitive and it would have to make sense financially. A couple of options came up, but nothing that was really that interesting for me, so I made the decision with my wife: let’s stay in Kansas City, find what’s next for me and retire from professional soccer.”

On BSI the Podcast Ike Opara let the cat out of the bag that Benny was “on trial” with the New England Revolution and his former National Team coach Bruce Arena. Benny clarified it wasn’t a trial and he was just staying in shape. Either nothing came of that, or it wasn’t a good fit to move his family there.

There is no word on what other “options came up.”

You Can Still Watch Benny Play

One cool thing coming out of the interview is that, at least for now, Feilhaber is staying in Kansas City. Apparently he has joined SKC broadcaster and 810 WHB radio host Nate Bukaty’s over-30 team, Hot Boys United. It also sounds like that team features former SKC player and current commentator Jacob Peterson.

As for their apparent competitive advantage, Benny said he wouldn’t be staying in shape or doing much running and he’ll just be static in the middle of the park making some passes.

I’ll let you guys figure out where the team plays if you really want to catch the future Sporting Legend in action.

Running is Hard

In his Tweet announcing his retirement he said “I love this game but running is hard. So I’m out.” He had a lot more to say about his hate of running on The Border Patrol.

“I’ve never liked running. It’s the hardest thing ever,” started Feilhaber. “It’s the worst time in the world. It’s so boring.”

Earlier in the interview, when talking about waiting it out for a roster spot to open, that didn’t seem like something he’d be interested in doing. Partially because of the fitness.

“I could have tried to stay fit and see what happens throughout the [2020] season, but I’m not going do that for six months,” said Feilhaber. “Running and staying fit is too hard. I thought [retiring] was the right thing to do and the right time to do it.”

The guys on the show had lots of questions about running and if he was odd compared to other professional athletes and Benny concluded there are more like him, but some players, like Graham Zusi, just love to run. Steven St. John was inclined to agree about the joylessness of running.

As for running in the over-30 league, Bukaty told Benny, “[he] won’t have to over do it and people will accept [him] for who [he is].” Also, apparently the wives of the current players are suddenly very interested in this league.

What’s Next for Benny?

“I hate not doing anything,” said Feilhaber, right after he talked about his 9 AM interview being too early. “I’m looking to get into my next career as quick as I can.”

One possible destination may be right here with Sporting KC.

“The Sporting Kansas City organization has been the most important to me throughout my career, so I hope that I can get in with the club and have some kind of role going forward,” said Feilhaber. “If I can do that, I think watching games will be a piece of cake. I’ll be laughing at all of the guys running around and getting tired. Now I can be on the opposite side of things and analyzing games.”

Here is to hoping the team finds a role for Feilhaber. He’d probably be great in the booth, but with Peterson just taking over that job, I’m sure that won’t happen right away. If nothing, you can continue to enjoy the quips of Feilhaber along with Opara and Sal Zizzo on their podcast.

Go check out the interview. It’s a funny listen to one of my favorite players in team history.