Taylor Timothy Twellman (born February 29, 1980) is an American former soccer player who played professionally from 1999 to 2010. He now works in the media as a soccer television commentator for MLS on Apple TV.
Twellman is best known for his play with the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer (MLS) from 2002 to 2009, during which time he scored more goals in MLS than any other player. He was the youngest player to score 100 goals in MLS in 2009 at the age of 29, and is New England's all-time leading goal scorer. Twellman was a five-time MLS all-star and in 2005 was the league MVP. Twellman also earned 30 caps for the United States national team, scoring 6 international goals.
Twellman has been active since his retirement in promoting awareness of concussions and working in the media as a color commentator for ESPN/ABC until 2023 and for Apple TV since 2023.
Taylor was raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and attended Saint Louis University High School (SLUH). During his time their he received multiple honors such as being named the 1997 NSCAA National Soccer Player of the Year, 1998 Missouri High School Athlete of the Year, he was a two-time Parade and NSCAA All-American ... two-time NSCAA State Player of the Year, a two-time Gatorade State and Central Region Player of the Year. In his four years at SLUH he scored 115 goals and 35 assists, including a record school record 47 goals his junior year. He also played on the schools baseball, basketball and football teams.
After graduating from SLUH in 1998, Twellman elected to play soccer at Maryland on an athletic scholarship. At Maryland, Twellman played soccer in 1998 and 1999; in 1998 Twellman was named a second-team All American and won Soccer America's National Freshman of the Year. In his sophomore 1999 season he finished as a runner-up for both the Hermann Trophy and the MAC Player of the Year Award. After only two seasons with the Terrapins, Twellman left college to turn professional. In 43 games he scored 28 goals and 17 assists, he was also a two time NSCAA All-South Atlantic and two-time All-ACC performer.
In 2000, Twellman signed with German Bundesliga club 1860 Munich. He spent two years with the team, but played for the reserve team in Division III, and never played above the reserve level.
Twellman returned to the U.S. when he was drafted second overall by the New England Revolution in the 2002 MLS SuperDraft on February 10, 2002. He made his MLS debut in the Revolution's season opener on March 23, coming on as a 67th minute substitute for Álex Pineda Chacón in a 3-1 loss to the MetroStars. He scored his first MLS goal, and made his first MLS start, on April 20, 2002, scoring in the 10th minute of a 2-0 victory over the Columbus Crew. In Twellman's first season in MLS, he established himself as one of the best players in the league, scoring 23 goals and tallying six assists. On May 11, 2002, Twellman scored the first (and second) ever goals at Gillette Stadium in MLS league play, in the Revolution's 2-0 win over the Dallas Burn. He finished second in league MVP voting, and was named to the 2002 MLS Best XI. Twellman scored his first professional hat trick against D.C. United on September 7.
In the 2003 season, despite being beset by a number of injuries, Twellman finished tied with Carlos Ruiz of the L.A. Galaxy for top goalscorer of the league with 15. His season officially ended on October 4, vs. Dallas when he broke his left foot after scoring two goals earlier in the game. Twellman was named both New England Revolution Team MVP and Midnight Riders Man of the Year in both 2002, and 2003, making him the first player to win the honors in back to back years. His production went down in 2004, as he ended up with just nine goals.
Twellman's best MLS season came in 2005, winning both the Major League Soccer MVP Award and MLS Golden Boot, and finishing the regular season with 17 goals. On April 27, vs. the Chicago Fire Twellman became the first player in Revolution history to score 50 goals as a member of the club. During the season he also scored two hat tricks the first vs. Dallas July 16, and against Columbus September 10, this set the Revolution record for career hat tricks games at 3. He was also named to the 2005 MLS Best XI and won MVP honors at that year’s All-Star game. That season Twellman led the Revolution to the 2005 MLS Cup Final vs. the Los Angeles Galaxy where they were defeated 1-0.
During the 2006 season Twellman led the Revolution in scoring four a forth time tallying 11 goals. He also scored his 75th career vs. D.C. United on October 7. During the postseason he scored game winning goal vs D.C. in the Eastern Conference Championship sending the Revolution to their second straight MLS Cup appearance. During the 2006 MLS Cup Twellman became the first ever Revolution player to score a goal in the championship game, however they would lose in penalties 4-3.
Twellman was the target of transfer talk when Odd Grenland of Norway reportedly made a $1.2 million bid for him, which MLS rejected. In February 2007, New England announced they had signed Twellman to a four-year contract, reportedly worth $5 million.
In 2007, Twellman won his first title with the Revolution: the US Open Cup in which he scored the go-ahead goal and four total goals throughout the tournament. That year he finished third in MLS in goals scored with 16. The Revolution also won the Eastern Conference title for a third straight year, with Twellman scoring a spectacular bicycle kick against the Chicago Fire to secure the Revs' spot in the 2007 MLS Cup. Twellman scored the opening goal of the 2007 MLS Cup against Houston Dynamo. However, this would be New England's only goal as they would go on to lose their third straight MLS Cup by a score of 2–1.
In January 2008, English Championship team Preston North End attempted to entice Major League Soccer and the New England Revolution to sell Twellman. Preston initially advanced an offer of $1.7 million, but MLS and the team rejected that offer, rejected another offer of $2.5 million, and then rejected another bid for $3 to $3.5 million, which would have been the fourth highest and possibly the second highest transfer fee in MLS history to date. During the 2008 MLS season Twellman finished as one of the Revolution’s leading goal scorers with eight. He boasted career lows in appearances 16, starts 12 and minutes, due to a variety of injuries he sustained throughout the year.
Twellman suffered a neck injury and a serious concussion from a mid-air collision against Los Angeles Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin on August 30, 2008. Twellman played the rest of the 2008 season, but due to lingering symptoms from his whiplash and concussion, he played only two games in 2009. One of these games vs. New York on June 7, seen him enter as a halftime substitute and score two goals in the 4-0 win those goals were the 100th and 101st of his career. Twellman had planned to make his return during the 2010 season, but he was unable to play that season and was placed on the season-ending injury list. After struggling to find any playing time over the past three seasons in MLS due to his head injury, Twellman announced his retirement from the game at the end of the 2010 MLS season.
Due to having an American father and a mother of Algerian descent, Twellman was eligible to represent the United States men's national soccer team as well as the Algerian national football team.
Twellman began his involvement with the U.S. national program at youth level with the U-17 and U-20 squads. He first gained professional attention after scoring four goals for the U-20 national team at the 1999 World Youth Championship while still playing with the University of Maryland. He also represented the United States at the 1999 Pan American Games.
After establishing himself in MLS, Twellman made his first appearance with the senior U.S. national team on November 17, 2002, against El Salvador. He struggled to score his first international goal, having several apparent goals waved off for offside infractions. He finally scored against Panama in a World Cup qualifier on October 12, 2005. He improved his chances for a spot on the 2006 World Cup team in a friendly against Norway on January 29, 2006. In the game, he scored the ninth hat trick in U.S. national team history, but was ultimately left off the World Cup roster by coach Bruce Arena.