As had been reported for several days across various MLS forums, longtime Colorado Rapids defender Drew Moor will not return to Commerce City for the 2016 season.
Moor was a mainstay for Colorado, logging over 16,000 regular season minutes and 650 playoff minutes in his seven years with the club.
After returning from a season-ending knee injury a year ago, Moor appeared in 22 games (all starts) for the Rapids in 2015.
In 2011, Moor set an MLS record among field players by playing the full 90 minutes in 69 consecutive regular season matches. A year later, he became the only field player in the league to play every minute of the regular season.
In 2010, Moor played 2700 minutes and 420 playoff minutes, helping to guide Colorado to its first and only MLS Cup.
Moor was named team captain in 2013, taking over for Pablo Mastroenio, who now coaches the Rapids.
“Drew has been a fantastic steward of the club. As a teammate there were few others that were as committed and reliable week after week,” Mastroeni said in a team release Wednesday. “As a captain, he led by example and held himself to a very high standard. It will be sad to see him go, but I know he will be an asset both on and off the field for years to come.”
Moor signed with Eastern Conference side Toronto FC for what will be his 12th MLS season after Colorado declined the option on his contract earlier this month.
The 2015 season was an up-and-down one for Moor, who missed time early in the year as he finished his finished rehabbing his knee. He was named to the MLS All-Star Team for the first time in his career in July, but closed the year with a last-place finish for the second consecutive year.
Moor joins a Toronto FC side that finished sixth in the Eastern Conference but was eliminated in the knockout round of the 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs.
“Drew Moor has been an outstanding servant to Colorado Rapids on and off the pitch. He has been a great player, great captain and great ambassador during his time with us,” said Rapids president, Tim Hinchey, in the release. “In that period he won MLS Cup and, fittingly, became an All-Star just this year. You don’t release legends, you just wish them well and we will welcome him back to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park when the time is right.”
The MLS schedule will be released in early January. At that point the Rapids can begin planning the Drew Moor homecoming festivities.