Commerce City, Colo. - Two weeks ago Sam Archer listened to his mother's advice and flew from their home in New York to Denver to take part in the Colorado Rapids invite-only tryout combine. Not as confident as his mom, he was contemplating not participating but decided to packed three days worth of workout clothes - enough for the three days of the tryouts - and give it a shot.
"She was like, "I told you Sam," Archer said of his mom's reaction when he told her he had made the tryout cut and was asked to join the professional team for preseason training.
"Mom always knows best, and I thank her for that," he added.
"It feels great. I didn't expect to be out here for more than three days and ended up getting selected and now I'm going through preseason. I'm here for week two and hopefully I can keep it going."
The former Rutgers winger admits to being star struck when he first walked in to the Rapids locker room last week, specifically when he saw two-time World Cup veteran Pablo Mastroeni and fellow Jamaican Omar Cummings, whom he's watched play many times for Jamaica and the Rapids.
"The first training, once I got my first few touches, the nerves kind of went away," he said. "It's definitely a different level than what I'm used to in college. Everything is just more intense."
The coaching staff has been observing the 22-year-old as both a high center striker and wide winger in a 4-3-3 formation. And he's now made another cut, having outlasted three other trialists who were released after the first week.
The Queen's native is staying in a hotel supplied by the Rapids, and he's used some of his per diem money to buy some extra clothes.
Last Friday, Archer joined the rest of the squad for an event at the Pepsi Center, where they had team dinner in a private room before watching the Denver Nuggets game from their own suites at the club level.
"I'm just loving every moment of it, and I don't want it to go away," he said. "So I'm making sure I work hard every day so I can stay around."
