Robert Allen "Bobby" Boswell (born March 15, 1983) is an American retired

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player. He played his entire professional career in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

, mostly with the Houston Dynamo and D.C. United. He retired in 2017 with over 360 appearances in MLS. His best season was in 2006, when he won the MLS Defender of the Year award.

Early life and college

Boswell grew up in

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and as a child he played for the Clearwater Chargers. At age 11, Bobby was a contestant on the show Nickelodeon GUTS. Although he came in second place, he was the first to climb the megacrag. He played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest uni ...

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Professional career

D.C. United

Boswell was not drafted by a Major League Soccer club in either the

2005 MLS SuperDraft The 2005 MLS SuperDraft, held in Baltimore, Maryland on January 14, 2005, was the sixth incarnation of the annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. Expansion club Real Salt Lake had the first pick as the result of a coin toss (fellow newcomers C.D. ...

or the

2005 MLS Supplemental Draft Following the signature of the first MLS players' union contract, the MLS Superdraft was limited to four rounds. As a result, the Supplemental Draft was re-incarnated to hold the additional rounds. The 2005 MLS Supplemental Draft, held on February 4 ...

. After impressing during pre-season, Boswell was signed by

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

as a discovery player. He earned a starting spot in the club's defense after

Bryan Namoff Bryan may refer to: Places United States * Bryan, Arkansas * Bryan, Kentucky * Bryan, Ohio * Bryan, Texas * Bryan, Wyoming, a ghost town in Sweetwater County in the U.S. state of Wyoming * Bryan Township (disambiguation) Facilities and structu ...

had to miss the beginning of the season due to injury. He started the season well, but set the league record by scoring three

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

s in a season. During the 2006 MLS season, Boswell was the starting centerback for United, who finished with the best regular-season record and won the Supporters' Shield. Boswell was named an All-Star, and he started and played the entire All-Star match in the 1-0 victory over Chelsea, the defending English Premiership champions. He was named United's 2006 Defender of the Year and Humanitarian of the year. He was also named the 2006

MLS Defender of the Year Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in th ...

and selected as a member of the Best XI.

Houston

At the end of the 2007 MLS Season, Boswell was traded by United to

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

for backup goalkeeper

Zach Wells Zachary Joe Wells (born February 26, 1981, in Costa Mesa, California) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. College Wells played college soccer at UCLA from 1999 to 2003, where he helped the school to the ...

and a second-round pick in the

2009 MLS SuperDraft The 2009 MLS SuperDraft took place on January 15, 2009 in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the tenth annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The first selection was owned by the expansion Seattle Sounders FC. Unlike previous years, the SuperDraft wa ...

. Boswell enjoyed success with the Houston Dynamo, helping the team to win the regular-season Western Conference title. At the conclusion of the 2008 MLS season, Boswell was named the team's defender of the year and the team's "iron man." He also received the team MVP award, as voted by the Houston Dynamo fans. Zach Wells, who he had been traded for, played sporadically in the 2008 season before retiring at the end of the season. After the 2008 season, Boswell initially went to Europe in search of a new club but eventually signed a four-year extension with the Dynamo instead. He signed another new contract with Houston after the 2011 season. Boswell's contract with Houston expired after the 2013 season.

D.C. United

Boswell entered the

2013 MLS Re-Entry Draft The two-stage 2013 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 12, 2013 (Stage 1) and December 18, 2013 (Stage 2). All 19 Major League Soccer clubs were eligible to participate. The Stage 1 and Stage 2 Drafts were conducted in the same order as the ...

. He returned to

on December 12, 2013 when D.C. selected him in stage one of the draft. On May 13, 2015, Boswell recorded his 300th appearance for D.C. United against expansion team,

Orlando City SC Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the USL ...

. He scored his final goal for DC against the

in the 62nd minute. The game ended in a 3-1 DC loss at home.

Atlanta United

On August 8, 2017, Boswell was traded by United to expansion team,

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began pl ...

in exchange for a third round pick in the

2019 MLS SuperDraft The 2019 MLS SuperDraft was the twentieth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is typically held in conjunction with the annual January United Soccer Coaches convention, which in 2019 was held in Chicago, Illinois. The fi ...

. Boswell announced his retirement in February 2018. Upon retirement, Boswell was 7th on the all-time most MLS minutes played list, with 32,222 minutes in 366 appearances.

International play

In January 2006, Boswell was called into his first training camp for the U.S. national team. He earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

on February 19, 2006, in a 4-0 victory against

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

Personal

Boswell was named one of the 50 Most Attractive Bachelors in the November 2006 issue of

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

Magazine as Mr. Virginia. As a child, Boswell appeared on the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

TV show ''

GUTS The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and ...

'' as Bobby "Lightning" Boswell. At one point, he struggled to kick a soccer ball placed on a pedestal into a goal, missing the ball repeatedly, but still ended up winning the event. His older brother, Billy, also played soccer with FIU Golden Panthers. He has another brother named Chad and one named Drew. Their cousin is "Frasier" acto
Adam Blake Boswell
Boswell is married to Keri Chadwick. Boswell has 3 children. His nephew is Riley Boswell, a youth soccer player at H.B. Plant High School, being scouted by his uncle's own team, D.C. United. Boswell stated that after retirement, he and his family moved back to Houston,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Honors

D.C. United

Supporters' Shield (2):

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Individual

: 2006 *

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. Winners *Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award for that season. Most appearances by a player The following players have appeared ...

: 2006, 2014

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boswell, Bobby 1983 births Living people American soccer players D.C. United players Houston Dynamo FC players Atlanta United FC players FIU Panthers men's soccer players Florida International University alumni United States men's international soccer players 2007 Copa América players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Soccer players from Tampa, Florida Association football defenders Undrafted Major League Soccer players