After 14 years of playing professional lacrosse and many more before, Paul Rabil has decided it’s time to hang up the cleats. It was only appropriate to take a look back at his legacy and find nine of his greatest moments. This list is in no numerical order, but it does follow a timeline of his career.
These are the nine greatest moments of Paul Rabil’s lacrosse career.
Paul Rabil’s Top 9 Greatest Moments
Winning two ncaa national titles
Paul Rabil became an impact player the day he stepped foot on Johns Hopkins’ campus. During his freshman year in 2005, Rabil recorded 23 goals and 14 assists, helping the program win its eighth NCAA Tournament title and earning Third Team All-American distinction. While Rabil certainly wasn’t the face of the program yet thanks to Kyle Harrison finishing his senior year with the Blue Jays, he definitely was a major component in that 16-0 national championship team.
By the time his junior campaign rolled around, Rabil’s dominance was certainly felt across the country. Rabil recorded 27 goals and 26 assists that year and was named a First Team All-American for the second season in a row. The Blue Jays finished the year 13-4, defeating Duke in the national championship game.
Paul Rabil’s greatest moments were just beginning.
top-two draft pick in mll and nll
Rabil became a hot commodity in both the 2008 MLL and NLL Drafts. He was selected No. 1 overall to MLL’s Boston Cannons and No. 2 overall to the NLL’s Washington Stealth. While his indoor career is usually pushed to the wayside, not many athletes can say they were selected first and second overall in multiple leagues.
2010 nll championship
The lacrosse community doesn’t pay enough respect to Rabil’s short-lived NLL career. Rabil played four seasons for the Washington Stealth and one season with the Philadelphia Wings. While he may not have been a franchise-caliber player in the NLL, he was still better than most on a box lacrosse floor. Rabil was named a two-time All Star in 2011 and 2012.
Over the course of four seasons, Rabil recorded 69 goals and 110 assists. He was a valuable transition player on the Washington Stealth’s 2010 championship team and set a team record for loose balls in a season, snagging 153 in 16 games.
world lacrosse mvp
Paul Rabil suited up for the Stars and Stripes in 2010, 2014, and 2018 and first made his impact on the international level during the 2010 World Lacrosse Championship. On top of the United States winning gold that year, Rabil was named to the All-Tournament Team and awarded MVP of the tournament.
winning the steinfeld trophy twice
It was clear during the early 2010s that Paul Rabil was one of the best players at the professional level. It was only a matter of time before Rabil would win a ring after multiple historic seasons with the Boston Cannons. In 2011, he brought home his first MLL championship and played for the Cannons for a total of seven seasons.
In 2015, Rabil was traded to the New York Lizards for veteran Max Seibald and a few draft picks. This trade set the league on fire as the Lizards then had all the pieces to make a championship run, and that they did. New York finished that season 10-4, beating the Rochester Rattlers to win the franchise’s third MLL championship. Rabil was named the MLL Championship Game MVP.
entire mll career
From 2008 until 2018, MLL was Rabil’s world, and everyone else was just living in it. For an entire decade, Rabil was considered the face of the entire Major Lacrosse League. It is difficult to put into words how impactful Paul Rabil was in MLL, so I will let the stats do the talking:
- 2x Steinfeld Cup Champion (2011, 2015)
- 1x Steinfeld Cup MVP (2015)
- 10x MLL All Star (2008-2017)
- 9x First-Team All Pro (2009-2017)
- 2x MLL MVP (2009, 2011)
- 3x Offensive Player of the Year (2009, 2011, 2012)
Founding the premier lacrosse league
The best player in professional lacrosse was stepping away from MLL to make his own league, and it worked. Against all odds, Paul Rabil founded the Premier Lacrosse League, giving professional lacrosse players the platform that they deserved. This endeavor provided lacrosse athletes with the tools and resources to pursue lacrosse full-time at the professional level, which had not been done before.
Rabil took a leap of faith with the hope that he could make lacrosse a mainstream professional sport. This achievement alone will be felt by the lacrosse world for many years to come.
breaking the all-time points record
This summer, Rabil broke the all-time outdoor lacrosse points record with 657 points. This record doesn’t happen over night – it took Rabil 14 seasons to achieve this high honor. It’s only a matter of time before someone breaks this record, but for the the time being, it has Rabil’s name all over it. Statistically speaking, this is Rabil’s greatest moment.
becoming the face of lacrosse
Paul Rabil has singlehandedly paved the way for the sport of lacrosse over the past decade. He has impacted the game on and off the field with zero signs of slowing down anytime soon. Regardless of if you love him or hate him, it cannot be denied that he has inspired generations of lacrosse to come.
Number 99 will surely be in the rafters sooner than later.
