A long-time Metro record fell earlier this year, and few have noticed. In the game against Orlando, Kyle Duncan received his 33rd yellow card in regular season play. That "beat" Mike Petke's total of 32. Petke needed 169 games to do it... Duncan achieved it in just 111.

Next for Duncan is the all-time yellow record for all competitions, which is also Petke's at 38. After getting a yellow against Miami, Duncan is now tied with Amado Guevara for second, at 35. (He only has one non-league yellow, received in the 2020 playoffs.) Unlike something miraculous happens, it looks like the record will be his soon enough.

Of course, Duncan is not the only card magnet currently on the team. Sean Nealis now stands at 29 yellow in all competitions, 8th all-time. But the real dark horse is Andres Reyes, who has 22 yellows (and three reds), but also has the all-time season record of 14, achieved last year. (His 12 league yellows in 2023 is the record as well.) In fact, there have been a total of seven 10+ yellow seasons in Metro history. Duncan, Reyes, and Nealis all reached that in 2023.

So what is it with the card explosion? Is it the newer batch of MLS referees, or the type of players Red Bull seeks for its defense? Whatever it is, a record is a record...