Joe

Willis

Willis was born into a St. Louis soccer family. Two uncles on his mother's side were devoted soccer people who made sure he had a ball at his feet from early on; his father John came to the game later, through his sons, eventually becoming an engaged fan who texts game analysis. Willis started at Busch Soccer Club before moving to Scott Gallagher, the city's most prominent youth program, after the two clubs merged.

He earned All-Metro and All-State honors at Chaminade Prep in 2005, then took a scholarship to Denver — a steady, unspectacular rise through four years of consistent improvement, three seasons of USL PDL summers, and a third-round draft pick. It was the kind of trajectory that demands patience, and Willis has made a career out of it.

Since his 2011 MLS debut with D.C. United, Willis has become one of the most durable goalkeepers in league history. He crossed 271 regular season appearances across 15 consecutive MLS seasons, outlasting dozens of higher-profile keepers drafted and discarded during the same stretch. Nashville SC, the team he helped launch in 2020, has been his longest stop — and arguably his best. In the 2021 season he recorded 13 shutouts and 100 saves, numbers that ranked among the best in the league.

None of it happened the way the scouts would have drawn it up. Willis was not a blue-chip recruit or a national team fixture. He was a St. Louis kid from a soccer family who kept working until the league ran out of reasons not to keep him.