MetroFanatic: Connor, are you old man Connor right now?
Connor Lade: I feel like old man Connor right now.

MF: You don't sound old.
CL: (laughs) Yeah, hopefully I'm not looking that either. It's weird being the old guy here.

MF: Are you the ground-setter for... look at all these guys!
CL: I know!

MF: You laid the groundwork!
CL: No, no, I still feel like one of the young guys, and then I look around and I realize I'm not really in that scenario anymore, so it's good to be around the guys and still be part of the club.

MF: There were a couple of guys before you, from the academy, but you really are the first success story. If Titi Henry doesn't say, I like this guy, do you think you're cut?
CL: I hope not!

MF: That was a good endorsement, that's all.
CL: Of course, of course, that was always nice press. I've been here for a while now, and I feel as young as ever. I feel like I've revamped my career. I love it under Jesse. It's been great.

MF: There was a central back crisis, no one asked you to play center back?
CL: No! I think I talked to Jesse. At one point I said, if you ever need me, I played there junior year and senior year of college, so I wasn't opposed to it. Any way you can get on the field, you try to do that.

MF: Everyone says they don't care, but give us a real answer. You play all over the place, but what's your real preferred position?
CL: Either right back or left back. I grew up playing left back. The teams I played on never had that great of a left back, it's always a tough spot. I kinda played there because I broke my foot in eighth grade, my right foot, and I started to develop my left a little bit. So I started to play there a lot. Naturally, at this level, you want to play at your predominant foot, so probably right back.

MF: You had some life changes this offseason...
CL: Yeah, some life changes, got married. That was awesome, an incredible day.

MF: Still in the honeymoon phase...
CL: Yeah, we haven't been able to spend that much time together...

MF: Also helps.
CL: (laughs) You said that, not me!

MF: My wife doesn't read this website, so it doesn't matter.
CL: It's been great, now we get back and get settled, she should be happy. We'll see where this adventure takes us. It's been great some far.

MF: You're afraid it might cost you some of those female #16 and #5 jerseys?
CL: (laughs) The vintage 16 jerseys, hopefully we'll still some out there. No comment, really!