Matt Behncke (born February 20, 1980) is an American former professional soccer player and attorney. He last played for

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

(MLS). He is now a partner with the law firm of

Susman Godfrey Stephen Daily Susman (January 20, 1941 – July 14, 2020) was an American commercial plaintiffs attorney and founding and name partner of Susman Godfrey LLP. He won more than $2 billion in damages and settlements in just three cases, includi ...

Soccer career

Behncke grew up in

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is b ...

playing his youth soccer with the

Williamsburg Wizards The Williamsburg Wizards were a dominant American youth soccer team, based in Williamsburg, Virginia. Team Formation In 1989, Williamsburg Wizards head coach Al Albert went door-to-door to elementary school gym teachers in Williamsburg, Virgini ...

. Before joining MLS, Behncke played four years of

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and Philippines, the Philippines. Th ...

for

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

. In 1998, his first year at Princeton, Behncke was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year. In his sophomore year, he was a second team All-Ivy selection, while leading the Tigers to an Ivy League title. In both his junior and senior seasons, Behncke was named first team All-Ivy. In 2002, Behncke was the sole recipient of the William Winston Roper award, the highest male student-athlete award at Princeton. The award is given annually to a Princeton senior of high scholastic rank, outstanding sportsmanship, and general athletic ability. Upon graduating, Behncke was drafted 18th overall in the

2002 MLS SuperDraft The 2002 Major League Soccer SuperDraft was held on February 10, 2002 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. One month earlier, MLS had contracted two clubs: Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion. In conjunction with the contraction, the league conducted bo ...

by the

Dallas Burn Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wit ...

. In his first year with Dallas, Behncke did not make much of an impact, playing only 190 minutes. In his second year, however, Behncke developed into a useful utility player for the Burn, capable of playing adequately at either central defense or left fullback. Behncke saw an increased role in 2004, starting almost half of the Burn's games. However, after the 2004 season, he was selected by Real Salt Lake in the

Expansion Draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansio ...

. Following the 2005 season, Behncke was waived and retired from professional soccer to attend law school at the University of Texas School of Law. In 2006, he played for the

Williamsburg Legacy Legacy is an American soccer team based in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The team plays in the Mid-Atlantic Conference of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team was founded i ...

, his hometown club, in the fourth division

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

, prior to beginning school in Austin.

Legal career

While attending law school at the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

, Behncke was selected as the chief articles editor of the ''

Texas Law Review The ''Texas Law Review'' is a student-edited and -produced law review affiliated with the University of Texas School of Law (Austin). It ranks number 6 on Washington & Lee University's list, number 11 on Google Scholar's list of top publications i ...

''. After law school, Behncke served as a law clerk to

John M. Rogers John Marshall Rogers (born June 26, 1948 in Rochester, New York) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Background Rogers received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford Uni ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District o ...

. On January 1, 2017, Behncke was elected to the partnership of

L.L.P. Behncke is based out of the Houston, Texas office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behncke, Matt 1980 births Living people American soccer players FC Dallas players Real Salt Lake players Legacy 76 players Princeton Tigers men's soccer players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players FC Dallas draft picks University of Texas School of Law alumni Association football defenders