Eric Otto Gehrig (born December 25, 1987) is an American former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who was most recently an assistant coach for Chicago Fire of MLS.

Career

College and amateur

Gehrig played for Ajax FC Chicago then

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...

from 2006 to 2009. Gehrig was a three-time All-Horizon League player. He appeared in all 78 of the Ramblers' matches in that time, and captained the team for three years.

Professional

Eric Gehrig was signed by Columbus Crew on March 17, 2011. He made his MLS regular season debut on June 26, 2011, against the Colorado Rapids, coming on as a sub in the 85th minute for Emmanuel Ekpo. He also started and played all 90 minutes in an Open Cup third round match against the Richmond Kickers on June 28, 2011. Gehrig made his first career MLS regular season start and played all 90 minutes in a 1–0 win at Vancouver on July 6, 2011. On December 10, 2014, Gehrig was the 10th round pick in the

2014 MLS Expansion Draft The 2014 MLS Expansion Draft was a draft for the Major League Soccer expansion teams New York City FC and Orlando City SC that took place between November 19 and December 10, 2014. The first two rounds of the draft (which were known as the 2014 MLS ...

Orlando City SC Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the USL ...

, promptly being traded to Chicago Fire for a second-round selection in the

2016 MLS SuperDraft The 2016 MLS SuperDraft was the seventeenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2016 convention was held in Ba ...

. Gehrig went on to start 25 games for the Chicago Fire and was named 2015 Fire Defender of the Year. On November 23, 2016, Gehrig's contract option was not exercised by Chicago Fire. He became eligible for the Re-Entry Draft but wasn't selected. On February 15, 2017, Gehrig announced his retirement. On the same day he was named assistant coach for Chicago Fire.

References

External links

Loyola profile
* 1987 births Living people American men's soccer players Loyola Ramblers men's soccer players Chicago Fire U-23 players Columbus Crew players Chicago Fire FC players Saint Louis FC players Men's association football defenders Sportspeople from Harvey, Illinois Soccer players from Cook County, Illinois USL League Two players Major League Soccer players USL Championship players Chicago Fire FC non-playing staff {{US-footy-defender-stub