Before he was a Premier League star or suiting up for his country, Brad Guzan was just another kid in the southern suburbs of Chicago who loved playing soccer. In fact, he says looking back with a smile, he doesn’t really remember a time before the beautiful game entered his life.
“I was always a big kid so I was probably three years old playing against four and five-year-olds, and I just enjoyed running around,” he says. “I was just running around kicking a ball, probably kicking other kids, and just having a great time.”
What Atlanta United fans may not know is that Brad’s soccer beginnings weren’t in goal. But as his hobby turned into a passion and then into his life calling, he realized moving to goalkeeper was the best way to achieve his professional dreams.
“Probably because I wasn’t the quickest and my first touch wasn’t the best,” he says with one of his seemingly ever-present laughs. “I eventually got to the point that if I wanted to play at the next level, which was college at the time, I probably had to move to goal.”
It’s fair to say the move paid off and the rest – as the saying goes – is history. He was a second-team All-American at the University of South Carolina before being drafted to Chivas USA in MLS, where he was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2007. From there his career took off, spending eight years in the English Premier League and securing his place in the U.S. Men’s National Team. But a new opportunity would arise in 2017, and it all started with a phone call from a former teammate.
“I signed with Atlanta United before they’d played any games, so there was that question of the unknown. No one knew what the club would be, that there would be this buzz. But having conversations with Darren [Eales] and especially Carlos [Bocanegra], who I played with for a long time with the national team, you knew it wasn’t going to be a normal expansion team. This was going to be a club that was going to go for it.”
It’s no surprise that a U.S. international fit in right away on the field, with a man-of-the-match performance in his first start for the club in last year’s memorable win in Orlando. But the true shock came to him the following weekend in his first-ever appearance in Atlanta, which before his eyes had turned into the new soccer capital of the United States.
“It almost made you forget you were in the United States,” he says,” and I say that in a good way. Being fortunate enough to play in other places around the world, you see the environments that are created, you see how much the sport means to people around the world. It’s never been done before at this level in the United States. And to now have that here on a weekly basis, you almost pinch yourself that you are lucky enough to be a part of this club.”
But perhaps more impressive than his contributions on the field was how he immediately sought to make an impact off of it. He instantly became a locker room leader, with his humor and passion an example for his younger teammates every day at training. And he dove right into his adopted home of Atlanta. He got involved with Atlanta United’s Special Olympics Unified Team right away in his first season and has dedicated his time to countless other causes –– from hospital visits to grassroots soccer clinics and everything in between –– always ready to pitch in to help out with the local community.
“I’ve never taken for granted what I do and what my job is. We are lucky to be here, lucky to be doing what we love, playing this game. I’m just this kid from the suburbs of Chicago and I’m extremely lucky it panned out for me. So if you are able to brighten someone’s day by taking a picture, signing an autograph, hanging out with some kids in the afternoons or whatever it may be, for me it’s a platform that allows us to be able to give back. To be a part of that is something for which I’m extremely grateful.”
Guzan says he never looked ahead much in his career. He never planned ahead about going to England, even if his ambitions were high enough to take him to Europe. He never knew what his next step would be after the Premier League. But he says his move to Atlanta is so much more than a footnote tacked on to the end of a great American soccer career.
“What we’ve been able to do here with Atlanta United is the opposite of how it was with my first year with Chivas USA. To see the growth of the league, the growth of the quality of players, the notoriety of teams in their cities –– to see the growth of everything is tremendous, just as someone who loves soccer and wants it to grow in this country.”
While his performances on the field show he has plenty left to give, there will eventually come a day where he must hang up his cleats for good. But whenever that time comes, he knows he can look back at this chapter in his life with pride.
“This is a club that has extremely high potential to win things and do some fantastic things on so many different levels. The options are endless in terms of the success and memories that will be created on and off the field. Hopefully I’ll have some silverware to show for it. But I’ll always say I was lucky to be a part of this from the very beginning, and I’ll be sitting back watching the games as their number one fan.”
© 2026 Atlanta United FC
.png){kind=logo}
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)