If someone were to ask “Who embodies what it means to be a Columbus Crew player?”, the first person that would come to mind would be Darlington Nagbe. The soft spoken leader out of Lakewood, Ohio who has taken the Crew as his own after being named captain at the start of the year.

Nagbe, 33, is set to play in his third MLS Cup Final, his second with Columbus. Nagbe will hope to get his fourth title overall, after missing the 2020 MLS Cup when he tested positive for COVID.

“Everyone knows him as a soccer player,” said midfielder Aidan Morris. “That’s the one thing. But just him as a person is the one thing that stands out to me the most. Just always a smile on his face, always a someone wants to be surrounded by, just good energy all the time,” Morris continued.

Nagbe captured his first MLS Cup with the Portland Timbers in 2015, after defeating the Columbus Crew by a 2-1 scoreline, assisting on the Timber’s second goal when a bit of controversy happened just seconds before. The midfielder then captured his second title as a member of Atlanta United in 2018, when the Five Stripes defeated the Portland Timbers.

Columbus soon signed Nagbe and re-united the Akron Zip alum with his former college head coach Caleb Porter in 2019. Just a year later, the Crew were crowned champions for the second time in history, but had to do so without Nagbe.

“I think after that final, he was the first person I called,” Morris continued. “I ran into the locker room and called him regardless of him sitting in his basement and watching the game. Not even with his family, he’s still the same, smile on his face. And he’s just so happy for everyone. I think that speaks volumes to the kind of person he is.”

Nagbe has made his presence known this season, tallying three goals and one assist. But known for his patience on the ball and passing, he’s been a key player for the Black & Gold throughout the season.

“Darlington is a true leader on the pitch,” Alex Matan said during his media availability on Wednesday. “Even if you don’t say too much, he gives you that confidence on the pitch when he has the ball, and when you can see what he can do for the team, it’s just like ‘Okay, now we have to step in now.’”

When the Columbus Crew were down 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Final against in-state rival FC Cincinnati, it was Nagbe who lifted the morale at halftime for Columbus to have confidence in one another to get the win.

“In Cincinnati, at halftime, he had a pretty nice speech that motivated us to set up the second half.” When asked if he can go into a little bit of what Nagbe had said, Matan smiled and replied “No,” with laughter afterwards.

When asked about how Darlington is as a leader on the team, winger Yaw Yeboah seemed blown away by how much of an impact he’s had. “He’s amazing. I don’t have enough words to describe this guy. He’s amazing. He’s a legend to me.”