Brian Dunseth Shares Stories About Sunil Gulati, Alexi Lalas, and Life After A Professional Career.

Brian Dunseth and I jumped on the phone to record a conversation that neither of us really prepared for.

That’s actually a weird, yet effective tactic I’ve been using with some podcast guests recently.

I used to send people my “standard list” of questions, but I got tired of asking those. They were starting to feel robotic, even though I tried my best to disguise it. I also got a little jealous of the Joe Rogan style of interviewing that was more like a conversation. Joe has absolutely mastered it and I find myself in awe so many times when I’m listening to him. So, I decided to give it a try. For the most part, I’ve been happy with the results.

One luxury that Joe has is access to a laundry list of guests that absolutely do not give a damn what they say, how they say it, or who hears it. Unfortunately for me, and for you, people in the soccer world are usually a little bit more guarded with what they say and how they say it because they’re afraid of who might hear it.

Jobs are at risk. Access is on the line. Peoples livelihoods are at stake. That is why I always ask one last question before I start recording. “Is anything off limits?”

Now, to be fair to my previous guests, hardly any have set any heavy restrictions. There are several who even insisted on taking the gloves off. But, there are many people who have straight up denied or ignored invitations to come on the show.

Thankfully, Brian Dunseth honestly falls in the doesn’t give a damn category.

What you’re about to hear is “part 1” of our conversations.

At this point, we had never, ever spoken to each other before. We had only exchanged just a few Twitter direct messages.

At first, I got the feeling that Brian wanted to feel things out. Maybe he was a little unsure about what I would ask or what topics I would bring up. I had a similar experience when I interviewed Taylor Twellman. After a few questions, Brian started to open up.

After about 30 minutes, I felt that he and I could get much deeper into certain topics, but I knew he was pressed for time. So, for my last question, I asked him if he would be down to come back on the show.

He agreed and we set up a time to record again the next day.

So, this episode is the first of a few conversations I had with Brian. I’m actually stoked that I went for that unprepared style of interview with Brian because over the course of a few phone calls, we got into some topics that most people, especially in American soccer, would completely ignore.

He talked about Sunil Gulati being in his living room and talking him out of playing college soccer. He talked about Alexi Lalas telling him that he would be getting his final paycheck. And he talked about the struggles that come with having to adjust to normal life after finishing a playing career.

I’ve always enjoyed the conversations I’ve had with former pros because I love exploring the ins and outs of their situations and how they navigated the system. Thankfully, Brian doesn’t hold back and I think you’re going to enjoy what you hear in these conversations with Brian. I also want to believe that he really enjoyed getting a chance to talk about some of this stuff with me. Stuff that gets overlooked. Stuff that ignored. Stuff that ex-players bury deep down inside of themselves.

Be on the lookout for more episodes with him, but this episode will set the stage and give you a good idea of what went into the making of Brian Dunseth.

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