New England Revolution defender Brandon Bye has just entered his third season with the squad. In that short time, Bye has worked his way into becoming a staple in the Revolution lineup and continues to grow with the team both on and off the field.
Here are five fun facts you may not know about Bye:
1. Michigan All-Around
Bye was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and kept his Michigan roots in sight when going off to college to study at Western Michigan University.
Let’s talk about Bye’s soccer accolades at WMU: In his four seasons prior to being selected by the Revs in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft, he helped lead his team to its first Mid-American Conference regular season championship, NCAA Tournament win, and national top-five ranking. Bye recorded 22 career goals and 19 assists in 67 appearances from 2014-2017. During his senior season, he was also named a team captain and a Hermann Trophy semifinalist.
It gets better; not only did Bye excel on the soccer field, but also in the classroom. He maintained an impressive 3.74 GPA with a double major in Food & Consumer Packing Goods and Marketing & Supply Chain Management.
2. Twin City
Bye is one of three siblings in his family. He has two sisters that he is very close with. However, what many do not know about Bye is that he is actually a twin. He has a fraternal twin sister named Lauren, who was also born on November 29, 1995. She was literally his ride or die, from day one.
The twins do have one major clash that’s worth noting. While Bye attended college at Western Michigan University, Lauren went to Michigan State. A healthy family rivalry never hurt anyone, though!
3. Future Teammates
While in high school and college, Bye competed against his future teammate, DeJuan Jones, who played collegiately at Michigan State.
Bye was a year ahead of Jones in school. Jones actually reached out to Brandon prior to the 2019 MLS SuperDraft since Bye was already familiar with the process of becoming a pro. Little did the duo know that they would end up ultimately being teammates on the Revs.
4. Aspiras Foundation
In 2016 while at Western Michigan, Bye and one of his friends, Federico Tavarez, founded a certified non-profit, Aspiras Foundation, which empowers youth by providing infrastructure, equipment donations and opportunities for communities in the Dominican Republic.
It started as a simple clothing and soccer equipment drive, where both Bye and Tavarez reached out to coaches, friends, family and the community to solicit donations. When the drive ended, they earned over 800 donations that were shipped to the Dominican Republic. That’s how the Aspiras Foundation was born, and since then the nonprofit has only grown to help more children. In fact, during the offseason Bye has traveled to help these kids in person.
5. Minute Madness
Since joining the squad in 2018, Bye has become an integral part of the Revs starting XI.
In his rookie season, Bye totaled 24 appearances and 16 starts. It didn’t take long for the Michigan native to become a full-fledged feature in the starting XI by year two, totaling 30 starts/appearances in the 2019 campaign, including starting every game under head coach Bruce Arena. Bye even ranked second in minutes played for the team in his second year with 2,657 total, which is directly behind captain Carles Gil (3,052 minutes).
