When Felipe came on the field during the opening day of the 2015 season wearing #8, many heads were turned. That was Peguy Luyindula's number! The beloved Frenchman was still on the team!

Soon, the news spread. Peguy retired, and #8 belonged to Felipe. Did it ever!

For the next three seasons, Felipe missed three total games in ALL competitions, almost always going the full 90. (In the 100 league games he appeared in, Felipe didn't finish only ten times.) Even when Jesse Marsch shuffled the lineup, even when the backups play, he was the one constant, week in and week out. #8, Felipe. He made that number his own.

Obviously, more that just a number. Call him a pest, an agitator, a whiner; Felipe got under an opponent's skin like no one before him. It was obvious how much opponents hated to play against him... hated him. But we loved him. He was the engine behind our midfield. He made our midfield tick.

And now, Felipe is brutally shipped out by the man who brought him to MLS and then to Metro, Jesse Marsch. On paper, the trade makes a lot of sense. But games are not won on paper.

No, games are won in the middle of the field, and Metro won so many of these games the past three seasons because of Felipe.

Adeus e obrigado, #8. You will be missed.