Will Daniel has a special relationship with Sounders and their coach, Sigi Schmid

PHILADELPHIA — The interview was over, or at least I thought it was.

But Will Daniel seemed disappointed.

"You're not done yet, are you?" he asked. "Aren't you going to ask me what it's like to have Down syndrome?"

Will's story really is a love story. It's the story of his enduring relationship with Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid.

And it's about the mutual affection he has shared with so many of Schmid's players from UCLA, to the L.A. Galaxy, Columbus Crew and now the Sounders.

"Will's been fantastic for us," Sounders keeper Kasey Keller said. "He's a big inspiration."

Will Daniel's story is about the infectiousness of his personality and the love he has for soccer — the game, its players and one very special coach.

"Sigi cares deeply for Will and that caring has grown over the years," Will's mother, Pat Daniel, said. "And Will certainly has grown to love Sigi."

At the airport, before the 1997 soccer Final Four in Richmond Va., Will Daniel met the UCLA team, coached by Schmid. His mother was the team liaison, but Will wanted to be something more.

That night, as they escorted the team to its bus, Will asked his mother if he could ride with the team to its hotel. Pat shook her head, but UCLA's Jimmy Conrad told him to come along. Will got on the bus and sat next to Schmid.

A friendship was born.

Will Daniel, a 16-year-old boy with Down syndrome, quickly was adopted by a team that included Peter Vagenas, Carlos Bocanegra and Conrad.

"He came to our first practice and after that practice in Richmond, Will became part of our group," Schmid said.

The slogan for the Bruins that weekend as they won the NCAA championship, became, "Where there is a Will, there is a way." And after they won, the Bruins celebrated by carrying Daniel on their shoulders.

Will Daniel is an example of the magic that happens throughout sports, the lifelong friendships that are made and the lessons that can be taught.

Since that first bus ride in 1997, Daniel has kept in close contact with many of those UCLA players. He still calls that team his, "Bruin Brothers."

He attended Conrad's wedding. He traveled to Holland to watch the Schmid-coached U.S. Youth team play in the world championships.

He has met the Sounders on their East Coast stops. He was there for their U.S. Open Cup win in Washington. Before Sunday's loss to Philadelphia, the team was 3-0-1 when Will was with them.

"He's just so effervescent," Schmid said. "There's such a truthfulness and an honesty to him that just cuts through so much of the bull that exists a lot of times. We always look forward to seeing him. He's meant a lot to me."

On Saturday night, Schmid asked Daniel to speak to the team at its meeting in a hotel ballroom.

"Oh no, not this again," Sounders midfielder Vagenas, a good friend, joked before Will spoke.

Daniel looked around the room at the players, many of them now very familiar to him, and told them, "You guys can win every game if you put your minds to it. It doesn't matter where you are in the standings right now. It's about us together, as a family and a team."

"I just tell them whatever pops into my head," Daniel said.

When Will was born, doctors met with the family and told them what to expect from a child with Down syndrome. But they had no idea what life would offer up to the Daniel family.

"They didn't tell us things like, we would be standing on the field at RFK Stadium celebrating the U.S. Open Cup," Pat Daniel said. "Or flying to The Netherlands to watch the U.S. Under 20s play. They didn't tell us we'd be seeing Will in a Seattle jersey at the Meadowlands. Those things weren't on the list 29 years ago.

"But it's like everybody's angels worked together and we've ended up with this wonderful relationship, not only with Sigi, but with a number of the players. To get to know these players and coaches very personally has been a very enriching part of our lives."

On Sunday morning, sitting in the coffee shop at the team hotel, Will was wearing a white T-shirt commemorating the Sounders' 2009 Open Cup win. A few minutes later, he would lead the players on their team walk, where they would stop along the Delaware River and follow Will's instructions during a light stretch.

There is an energy and sincerity about him that practically, instantly, makes you want to be his friend.

"It's been great being with Sigi's team and his players," said Daniel, who plays forward on his soccer team and is a Global Messenger with Special Olympics, speaking to groups about his experiences in sports. "I call him the Papa Bear. He already has three sons and I'm just lucky enough to be part of the Schmid family."

Before Sunday's game, the players gave Will a Sounders jersey, and at PPL Park he had his own locker with his name placard above his cubicle.

"He was over the moon about it," Vagenas said. "What a great kid."

Vagenas is one of the many players who have stayed close to Daniel.

"Over these years I've seen his confidence grow," Vagenas said. "He probably knows about 30 or 40 percent of the professional soccer players in this country and to see him grow over the years from a young kid into a man and see him interact with all of them, I'm not sure that's something he would have gotten to do if it hadn't been for the world of soccer."

So, what's it like to be Will Daniel and have Down syndrome?

"I'm just a normal guy and I do normal things," he said. "I have friends that I see a lot. They accept the fact that I have Down syndrome and it's pretty cool to see how my friends react, not just to my disability, but doing the normal things they like to do with me. And I have to say that soccer has really enriched my life."

And it's obvious that, over the past 13 years, there are dozens and dozens of lives of soccer players and coaches that Will Daniel has enriched.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com