Jeffrey Adam Larentowicz ( ; born August 5, 1983) is an American former soccer player. He was a starting

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

on the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, ...

' 2010 MLS Cup Championship team, and a starting defender for

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began p ...

's 2018 Cup-winning side. During his career as a soccer player, Larentowicz was described as one of the most consistent

s 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 ...

, adept at passing and possession while well above average in tackling, tracking and defensive cover.

Youth and college

Born in Pasadena, California, to parents of Polish descent, Larentowicz played college soccer for Brown University from 2001 to 2004. In his four seasons there he played in 66 matches, amassing 7 goals and 6 assists, helping Brown to two

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schoo ...<