30th Anniversary Colorado Rapids Mount Rushmore

Commerce City – This Saturday, October 17, 2025, will be 30 years since Colorado Rapids were founded. Burgundy Wave has plenty of anniversary content for this week. I wrote about this a few years ago, but it’s worth revisiting: Who’s on the Colorado Rapids Mount Rushmore and why? Who could be next?

Marcelo Balboa

Marcelo Balboa is first on this list for the majority of fans. First ever captain. Colorado’s USMNT poster boy after the 1994 World Cup and becoming a Liga MX starter for Leon.

Center back/do everything deep lying midfielder for Colorado from 1996-2001. Scored the first goal in club history. His signature bicycle kick won the 2000 MLS Goal of the Year. Amazing player and ambassador for the club and the sport. He’s gone on to a media career including working for Altitude Sport. He’s been coaching in the Rapids Academy for a decade. Nice, approachable, and humble with fans.

And if it weren’t for a phone call he had with Sunil Gulati and Phil Anschutz, the Rapids might not exist. Celo is the Rapids’ George Washington.

Pablo Mastroeni

This one will get some hate and that’s fine. If you only judge on playing career, Pablo Mastroeni’s probably first on the Rapids Mount Rushmore ahead of Balboa. Pablo has the club records for starts, caps, and minutes played. Spent 12 season (2002-13) with the Rapids. Captained them to the 2010 MLS Cup. After Balboa, he’s the only active Rapids player to start a World Cup, making the 2002 and 2006 teams. With a stroke of luck, he got into the team after current Rapids manager Chris Armas got hurt. Mastroeni also won the Concacaf Gold Cup three times.

He retired at the end of 2013 then took over as Rapids head coach the next season. Spent 3 and half seasons in the job with a total record of 46-58-41. That includes taking over amid a rebuild. Mastroeni led the Rapids to their best regular season in club history in 2016. He made the club ethos of #KeepFighting a thing. He was heavily involved in two of the three best seasons in club history.

If you described the etherial Rapids player, it’s him. Physical. Gritty. Outworks everyone and plays for the team. Others in this article made the club’s Gallery of Honor before him. But his number #25 was the first to be retired on July 4, 2021. Balboa will be getting that same honor this summer.

After being fired as head coach in August 2017, he eventually joined Real Salt Lake. He’s in his fifth season as RSL manager. He’s seen as a turncoat and is at peace with that.

Drew Moor

Drew Moor is the most recent inductee into the Gallery of Honor. He retired at the end of 2022 and his #3 joined the other three on this list the following July. Moor played for Colorado from 2009-15 and 2020-22. He was a reliable and smart defender who organized a defense.

He started a nice trend of FC Dallas players to be traded to Colorado and getting one over on Dallas. He’s behind only Mastroeni in games, starts, and minutes played. He came in 2009 and helped lead the defense on the Cup winning team a year later. He fell in love with the city and the club and was a fan favorite. Was an MLS All-Star in 2015 when it was played at DICK’s. Some fans were mad when he left in free agency but forgave him when he came back five years later. He was a good locker room guy and occasional captain.

Since retiring, he’s taken on a club ambassador role. He does media that can be seen on match days and participates in training with the first team. He’s at worst the second best defender in club history.

Conor Casey

Best striker in club history. No contest. The Denver South graduate was the hulking, bruising No. 9 for Colorado from 2007-12. In 123 games all competitions, he recorded 52 goals and 14 assists. He and Omar Cummings were a dual threat and joy to watch up top. Casey three times recorded double digit goals. Scored one of two goals at MLS Cup 2010. Fun fact: He is technically the first Designated Player in club history.

Beyond his player contributions, he was a good soldier after retirement. He joined Mastroeni’s coaching staff and was interim manager after Anthony Hudson got sacked in 2019. He turned that season around with a 7-5-7 record, making for a stable situation for Robin Fraser to come into. Casey understandably was upset to not get hired as the full-time manager as he was offered a role at Colorado Springs Switchbacks.

Casey’s now relatively off the grid having last managed in 2022 with Charleston Battery. Great player during the club’s best era. Like others on this list, his post-playing career contributions to the franchise have been taken into account. Conor’s fourth on this list due to the longevity of the others and them being a little more personable.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

I feel pretty good about this Mouth Rushmore and the order they are in. If some fans want to disqualify Pablo because of his recent RSL ties, I get the logic. But you’re wrong. Here’s a few other names.

You have to start with the other three Gallery of Honor inductees. Chris Henderson was 90s Djordje Mihailović for the fans too young to remember him. Good complimentary player to Balboa when he dribbled into the midfield. Recorded 53 assists all-time.

Paul Bravo was fourth on my Mount Rushmore as of 2020. Scored some big goals. Helped Colorado make it to MLS Cup in 1997. Did some good work as Technical Director in 2010, though Gary Smith deserves more credit if you ask me. Like Casey and Mastroeni, he ultimately left the club with a sour taste in his mouth. Rightfully so.

Lastly, John Spencer. Good forward. Two-time MLS Best XI with Colorado during a period of struggle for the club.

If you wanted to pick out other players from the 2010 team, striker Omar Cummings, midfielder Jeff Larentowicz, defender Marvell Wynne, and goalkeeper Matt Pickens were part of that spine. All four are overshadowed by the three teammates who made the Mount Rushmore.

If he hadn’t gotten fired during that horrible 2023 season, Robin Fraser would be in the conversation. More so for his coaching than as a Rapids player.

If there’s a current Rapids player who’s getting on here, it’s Cole Bassett. Colorado native. Homegrown. Good role model for the kids. At 23-years-old, he’s already top 10 in games played. His current contract is through 2027. By the end of that contract, he could reach Mastroeni’s records for games, starts, and minutes. Longevity matters (that’s why I haven’t brought up Mihailović yet). If he keeps being Goal Bassett, he’ll have scored more than everyone but Casey. Pad some stats, get the captain’s armband at some point, have a signature moment in the playoffs, he’s Rapids Mount Rushmore material.

Main Photo Credit: Rodolfo Ganzales, Allsport via Getty Images

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