Shawn Kuykendall passed away early Wednesday morning at the age of 32 eight months after being diagnosed with an incurable thymic cancer.

Kuykendall played briefly in the MLS after a college career at American University.

“He did it with smarts,” said Todd West, his head coach at American. “He was a guy you put him on an MLS roster and even if he’s not starting, he still makes every training session better. He was the proverbial coach on the field.”

D.C. United opened its season last week and players wore t-shirts during warm-ups featuring the phrase “#kuykenstrong.”