Major League Soccer's all-time leading scorer, Kreis has attacked his rehabilitation process with the same abandon he did RSL's first season, in which the team won five games, just one more than league-worst Chivas USA. The 33-year-old is known league-wide for his determination and work ethic. And he wasn't going to let the small matter of the macabre material in his knee stop a successful career short.
Or the not-so-small matter of RSL's breakdown in its first season, in which he was the first to admit certain situations could've been handled differently.
"I don't think there's any reason to be hiding anything," Kreis said. "That sort of creates problems."
As ready to go, figuratively speaking, as any other player on RSL's revamped roster, Kreis is optimistic the many offseason acquisitions by coach John Ellinger and general manager Steve Pastorino will translate into better results on the field, as the team continues preseason workouts in Florida in preparation for its season opener, April 2 at Chivas USA.
RSL scored just 30 goals in 32 games in 2005, the lowest of any team in the league. Kreis led the team with nine goals, even though he missed the final eight games with the ACL injury.
There were problems, with and without Kreis in the lineup.
Malcontents, too much inexperience and
too little depth translated into a challenging first year for RSL, which retooled its roster significantly in the wake of the 5-22-5 season.
The team's captain was one of its toughest critics.
"If we continue to give goals away like Christmas gifts, we're going to be in big trouble the rest of the year," Kreis said after RSL lost to the Minnesota Thunder 6-4 of the USL First Division in a U.S. Open Cup game in July.
He insists there was no "a-ha moment," no lowest of low points, despite the suspension of midfielder Clint Mathis, his often combustible personality, and a number of outbursts that disrupted RSL practices. But he believes RSL didn't come together as well as it needed to.
"I don't really think the chemistry was atrocious last year," Kreis said. "The thing I really thought about early in the offseason is that I thought the guys could've gotten along better. I think we could've been, socially, a tighter group. If we can enjoy each other off the field, that can translate."
There was a Super Bowl viewing party before the team left for preseason camp in Florida, and there will be more gatherings, according to Kreis, in an effort to get the guys to want to fight for each other come game day.
He is sensitive to the support RSL received from the community in its first season - Rice-Eccles consistently drew upwards of 13,000 fans - and he understands the team will be on a much shorter leash this year. Ellinger predicted the team would win 15 games in 2006, a 10-game improvement over last season.
"That's got to be our bottom line," Kreis said. "Anything lower than that, I would not be the only one to tell you that would be a failure."
And the fans?
"If we don't do it right away, I couldn't blame them if they didn't show up," Kreis said.
On paper, RSL is much improved over a year ago. Mathis was traded to Colorado for forward Jeff Cunningham, one of the league's highest scorers.
"Jason already knows we seem to have more offensive punch than a year ago," coach John Ellinger said.
Perhaps more important, in Kreis' opinion, is the quality of players RSL imported.
"Just being around people, myself, I get a pretty quick opinion of somebody, and I think it's obvious to me that they're good people," Kreis said. "The more good people you have of the field, they've still got the skills and talents off the field it's, again, you just want to fight for each other."
DEAD MAN WALKING
Kreis is in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., training with his teammates. But for now, he remains a loner. There are plyometrics and there is running and weights, but there is no live soccer.
"Right now, it's just fitness," Ellinger said. "The first week in March, we hope to get him into some possession games."
The day after the surgery, Kreis was already using a device called a pedlar, pedaling like he would on a stationary bike, for 10 minutes each hour.
This surgery - a redo on a 2003 ACL tear Kreis suffered in Dallas - was less complicated than the first. There was less swelling and little of the "gunk" Kreis said remained after the first go-round.
And, there was the benefit of already having been through it once before.
"It removes a lot of the uncertainty that I went through before with the first one," Kreis said.
Said goalkeeper Scott Garlick, a former Kreis teammate in Dallas who was traded to RSL in the offseason, and also a veteran of ACL surgery: "The confidence side of it you can't just buy or get from taking a pill. It's something that comes through hard work. I think Jason understands, from having gone through it once, is that he has to work as hard as he possibly can, and then some."
The one player teammates instantly name as the hardest-working of them all, Kreis dove into the rehab regimen one more time.
"I've spent some time in the gym with him," Garlick said. "He absolutely inspires me with his work ethic. He's one of those guys who thrives off of working as hard as he can. The best word I can think of is inspiring."
He is Ellinger's right-hand man on the field. But at 33, he's not sure how many more years he's got left in him. In his achy knee.
"Once I reached 30 or 31, in there, I started thinking about what's coming next," Kreis said. "I'm not saying I've got my eye on something else, because I don't. But, having said that, I want to play as long as I can continue to play and enjoy it. I have to be able to do both of those things. If I can't do either one of them, I will quit."
But Ellinger won't hear any of that kind of talk. At least, not this season.
"We're not done with him yet," Ellinger said. "We're trying to keep him around for a little longer."
