MetroFanatic: Steve, you obviously spent a lot of time here before, now that you've come back, what does it mean to you to be a part of this club again?
Steve Jolley: I'm excited, I'm optimistic. I'm floored with the opportunity, I didn't think it would come again, to be honest with you. I mean, I sold my house here because I didn't think I'd be coming back. Mo has been phenomenal in terms of trying to get me back here, the opportunity came and I wasn't about to pass it up. It made no sense whatsoever, to be honest with you, why I came back. Financially, it was a horrible situation. In terms of the quality of life that my wife and I had in Dallas, you can't really compare the two. But my gut told me that this was a good situation for me, short term and more importantly long term as well. I appreciate the opportunity. I mean, there's something to be said when your assistant coach becomes a head coach and he wants you back. I'm happy.

MF: Speaking of your life in Dallas, it sounds like your family was pretty happy there. Are they coming back here, or are they staying there for the time being?
SJ: They're on their way. My wife was a kindergarten teacher in Dallas in one of the most prominent private schools in the entire country, and this was a horrible move for her. It pained me to tell her about the move, and we debated whether I should go or not. I felt like I was in a rut in Dallas and I needed to get away. That's not where I wanted to raise my kids, you know, God willing if I have kids (knocks on wood) sooner rather than later. We just felt it was the right time, there are amazing schools up here, and she wanted to take advantage of that. She'll be getting her Master's, hopefully children are on the way, we have family in Manhattan. It was the right move, it just didn't make sense. At all. We went with our gut, hopefully it turns out well.

MF: In terms of your role with the club this season, you've been part of a rotation across the backline throughout the preseason. When you were here last time, you were a featured player, a constant in the back. However, it seems that this year you're more of a role player, a support guy for the younger group.
SJ: That's something I don't accept, being a role player. I want to be a starter, right now. I don't think I deserve to be a starter because the guys who have been playing this preseason have done a fairly decent job. I think it's important that you find guys like Talyor Graham and bring him in, he's got experience. You give a guy like Jeff Parke an opportunity to redeem himself for last year's performance and his injuries and stuff like that. Here's the thing. I don't make any money, I've played two hundred plus games in this league, I'm 30 years old, at the prime of my abilities. I understand the game better than I've ever understood it before. I've played every position in a flat back four and in a three back system. I'm a wonderful commodity for this organization, and at some point I'm going to get an opportunity. It's up to me, and only me, when I do get that opportunity to be successful. They didn't promise me anything coming here, they said right away that you're g oing to be fighting for a position, we'll see what we can do. I'll get my opportunity, I think I'm too much of an asset not to get an opportunity. I'm not worried about it. At this point in my life, I haven't won a championship, and I want what's best for the team, but being a so-called "role player", I don't think anybody should accept that. I think everyone should want to be a starter.

MF: You once famously told our editor that you bleed the colors, that you're red and black through and through. With the change to Red Bull...
SJ: Are you guys calling me out now?

MF: ...so is your blood now orange and fizzy? Is it navy blue? What's the deal here?
SJ: Look, when you've played in this league for ten years, you bleed whatever color they allow you to bleed. I would've never assumed or expected to play this long. Obviously, I think anybody that looks at what I tried to do for this organization on and off the field, knows I love the MetroStars. But more importantly, I think, I love this area, the people in this area, that's the reason why I came back. I definitely didn't come back for the money, I can tell you that. I came back because I want to be in this area. I have complete and utter empathy for the fans for the last 10, 11 years. They've BLED for this team when, quite honestly, we weren't at all that good. I recognized it, and hindsight is always 20/20. I can see their frustration, I can accept their frustration. But one hopes that everybody sees a bigger picture, and knows that a hundred million dollar in our league is positive long-term. We're all in this together, we're all fans of the sport, we hope that it grows and right now Red Bull's investment is helping it grow, you can see that from the press turnout alone. We never had this (motions to the reporters on the floor) as the MetroStars, we had maybe four or five guys, Michael Lewis and Ives, that's about it. This is a positive, be patient, and hopefully everybody still supports the team. I'll do whatever is necessary to make sure everybody understands that this is a positive step. Hopefully people come out. Wear your MetroStars jersey, it's part of our past, part of our history. I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Twenty years from now, when I'm playing in an adult league, I'm going to have a jersey that I'm going to be fighting for every week, but I'm still going to be looking at that MetroStars jersey, remembering all the good times. Hopefully, everybody else does.