With all the brouhaha over the Re-Entry Draft (so far unrealized), let's hark back to the early days of MLS and the Supplemental Draft. If you think today's procedures are complex... Well, read on.

After MLS's flurry of initial signings were distributed to teams via allocations and the inaugural draft, it turned out that more players were needed. So the league signed more, and instituted the Supplemental Draft, which would last for four seasons. (This is not to be confused with the Supplemental Draft of 2005-08, which was basically an extension of the SuperDraft. Oh, MLS and its drafts.)

What players could be selected in the Supplemental Draft? Anyone and everyone who was a professional, basically. From the first overall pick in 1996, Italian pro Nicola Caricola (oh, the horror), to the second overall pick, indoor "star" Edmundo Rodriguez (THE HORROR! Did we mention that Metro traded up for the first two picks, giving up the college pick that became Eddie Pope in the process? But let's not delve into that this time around.) From 1997 on, former MLS players were eligible for the draft as well. In fact, Edsucko was picked by Kansas City. (How on earth... Moving on.)

So who did Metro pick in the drafts? In 1996, they selected Caricola, Edsucko, one-game wonders Danny Barber and Ken Hesse, and mysterious Brazilians "Juninho" and "Tulio". The duo, who never made it out of preseason, were obviously not their various famous namesakes. Juninho, from Barra da Tijuca, turned out to be Edivaldo Sarafim da Silva, who in the 2000s had a stint with Puerto Rico and Rochester of the USL. Tulio? He was a forward from a team called XV de Piracicaba. Nothing else is known. Seriously.

In 1997, the picks were Ezra Hendrickson (one of the few successful supplemental draftees, just not for Metro), indoor player Braeden Cloutier, an indifferent right winger who spent a year here (he had stints with San Jose and New England later on), and forward Dave Stewart from USISL's El Paso, who never made it. Neither did the two players taken in 1998, minor league midfielder Travis Roy from Milwaukee and defender Sal Leanti from Long Island. Petter Villegas (what do you know! An actual quality selection) and Nansha Kalonji came in 1999... and then the Supplemental Draft was canned.

For teams started to pass on draft picks. Four teams passed in 1998's third round. A year later, teams started passing in the second; a total of 12 passes was made. In 2000, MLS said enough, and created a merged SuperDraft, but year after year less and less professionals were drafted. In 2003, the SuperDraft became strictly a college draft.

But -- wait for it -- MLS would not let the Supplemental Draft die. So its last final hooray came in 2003, when five minor leaguers were left up for grabs. San Jose took Brian Ching. Metro took John Wolyniec, for his third of four stints with the club (we'll always love you, John!).

So there you have it. Now let's see if this second stage of the Re-Entry Draft will prove to be more useful than the Supplemental Drafts of the past...