The past year has seen the end of several legendary sports careers. Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Peyton Manning, Pavel Datsyuk, and now David Ortiz have all seen their last year in their sport.
It can be argued that out of every retiree in the past year, the one to have made the most impact on their sport was Casey Powell.
As with all players of elite status, there is a conversation about legacy. Is Ortiz the most important Red Sox ever? Is Manning one of the best quarterbacks? Is Bryant one of the best to play in the NBA? The legacy of Powell leaves little doubt.
Drafted first overall by the Rochester Knighthawks in 1998, Powell began what will be a hall of fame career in the National Lacrosse League. His accomplishments in the indoor game equal that of outdoor, as the only ever American MVP in the history of that league. He played with Anaheim, Boston, Orlando, New York, and Colorado at parts of his NLL career, which is just as legendary.
Already one of the greatest college players ever out of Syracuse, Major League Lacrosse founded in 2001, just three years after Powell’s last year with the Orange. He signed with the Long Island Lizards for his first season, before eventually being traded to Rochester, but as one of the last players from the league’s inaugural year, Powell’s retirement feels like the end of an era.
In modern lacrosse, the stars are the Thompsons, and then players like Kieran McArdle, Jordan Wolf, Marcus Holman, and other young stars out of college. Paul Rabil has remained one of lacrosse’s biggest celebrities even after moving on to New York, but Powell’s legendary status has always remained. Despite more well-known college players emerging as the top talent, the lacrosse world always reacted when there was action with Powell.
Powell was named the offensive player of the year twice in MLL, in 2005 and 2014, and was also the MVP in 2014. He had 63 points in his age 38 season with the Launch, in the first year of the young franchise’s existence.
Powell has never been a player to stick to just one team. Over his MLL career, he has played for Long Island, Rochester, Toronto, Hamilton, Chicago, Chesapeake, and lastly Florida, making his mark throughout the entire league and spanning multiple fanbases.
Going into Saturday, Powell leads MLL all time with 524 career points. He is fifth in goals with 266, and second in assists with 254. That point total comes even after he did not play between the 2008 and 2011 seasons, and skipped 2006. Every lacrosse fan that has ever followed professional lacrosse since the turn of the millennium has seen the impact Powell has made on the game, making him the defining point in this generation of lacrosse fans.
For anyone doubting Powell is the face of lacrosse going into his retirement? In 2016, his last season, he graced the cover and name of “Powell Lacrosse 16,” one of the only ever lacrosse video games.
His retirement now feels like the passing of the torch to this generation of lacrosse. New lacrosse fans in the 2017 Major League Lacrosse season will see a world that does not include Powell as a professional lacrosse player. There will be fans in Boca Raton watching a Launch team without #22.
For anyone who has watched lacrosse in the past 20 years, professional lacrosse without Powell seems like a reality that is difficult to imagine. Yet, in Boston on Saturday night, once the clock runs out, that reality will be the one we are in.
