Typically when Chris Wingert is on a flight, he sleeps as much as possible.
However, on a flight from New York to Salt Lake City on Tuesday to attend the funeral of longtime friend to Real Salt Lake Roxanne Hasegawa, Wingert was too anxious to sleep. Before his flight boarded, he was awaiting word from Real Salt Lake General Manager Craig Waibel and his agent about where the next stop on his pro soccer career would land him. Waived by New York City FC last week, Wingert’s first choice was to return to Real Salt Lake, where he spent eight seasons and lifted MLS Cup in 2009.
But he hadn’t heard from either by the time the flight took off, so he sat in his seat fidgeting until the in-flight Wi-Fi was activated.
“I sleep on every flight. It’s a big joke amongst the guys. They all laugh at me and make fun of me because I sleep on every flight. This might be the first flight that I didn’t sleep on in years,” Wingert said. “I was pretty anxious to get on the internet to see if it had gone through. When I got on and already had a million messages, I figured that something had happened. It was a sense of relief and excitement at the same time.”
At that point, word had spread that Wingert would don the Claret-and-Cobalt again after Real Salt Lake picked him up on waivers, bringing added depth and quality to the back line. And while he had a feeling he would end up back where he spent the majority of his professional career, it didn’t ease his tension as he awaited official word from the club or his agent.
“It was an hour into my flight before I got Wi-Fi and then my phone started blowing up like crazy and I spent the next four and a half hours on the plane trying to respond to everybody,” he laughed. “They were extremely nice messages and really supportive. It was really welcoming.”
Wingert, 33, rejoins former MLS Cup-winning teammates Kyle Beckerman, Nick Rimando, Tony Beltran, Javier Morales, Yura Movsisyan and Jamison Olave as RSL looks to return to MLS Cup glory in 2016.
“I’m very excited. Craig and Jeff worked hard to make this happen and fortunately it all worked out and it was great news,” Wingert said. “It’s a little bit surreal. I’m just pumped up to get back with the guys and get rolling.”
