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SANDY — Chris Wingert stood at midfield at Rio Tinto Stadium like he had done countless times during his 10-year career with Real Salt Lake.
Only this time, instead of standing there with Tony Beltran, Nat Borchers or any of the other defenders with whom he had played, he stood there with his family and RSL owner Dell Loy Hansen.
Instead of reaching out a hand to organize the defense against a counterattack, he reached out and accepted a plaque honoring his lengthy career with the 2009 MLS Cup champions.
Instead of wearing the familiar Claret-and-Cobalt jersey of Real Salt Lake, he wore a gray three-piece suit and purple tie.
But he was still the same Wingert — one that played 15 seasons in Major League Soccer (including 10 with RSL), helped win the 2009 MLS Cup championship, plowed the way to a historic spot in the 2010 CONCACAF Champions League finals, and amassed two goals, 16 assists (and two red cards) in 26,658 career minutes.
And with his career with Real Salt Lake over following a video tribute and a standing ovation from the announced crowd of 16,334 faithful fans during a snow-covered 1-0 win over the New York Red Bulls, Wingert exited the pitch one last time.
“It’s humbling,” said Wingert, who announced his retirement at RSL during its 2018 preseason. “It means so much to me that it’s hard to express — I just say ‘thank you’ as many times as I possibly can.”
Wingert’s days playing soccer aren’t over; he’ll play with the New York Cosmos B in the semipro National Premier Soccer League under close friend and first-year head coach Carlos Mendes in his native Long Island.
The schedule of the NPSL lines up for him to play a few games while spending time with family in the Five Boroughs after an MLS career that took him to Columbus, Colorado and Salt Lake City, with only one short-lived expansion season at New York City FC.
“They’re going to play on Long Island for a club that has so much history,” he said. “It makes sense for now where I am at in my life.”
But no matter where he goes, Salt Lake City — and the club he grew with from 2007 as a fourth-year professional — will always hold a special place in his heart.
“It’s absolutely a second home for me here,” Wingert said.
Wingert is one of five players — team captain Kyle Beckerman, MLS record-breaking goalkeeper Nick Rimando, fellow defender Tony Beltran and recently departed midfielder Javier Morales — who form the “decade-plus” club at RSL. It’s a testament to the franchise, but more importantly the close-knit supporters and the community, that so many stayed together for so long, he said.
“That’s unheard of in MLS, for such a young league,” Wingert added.
Legend pic.twitter.com/VfwYsf7ZCD
— Real Salt Lake (@RealSaltLake) March 18, 2018
It’s also a testament to Wingert, said head coach Mike Petke, who first met Wingert as a high school soccer standout at St. John the Baptist High School on Long Island.
“Chris is a special person,” Petke said. “Take away what he’s accomplished on the field, even; he comes from an unbelievable family. To see this little kid on the sideline catching the ball and juggling it, I was told by my high school coach to pay attention to him. He was going to be something someday.”
Wingert became something, sure; he became a pro soccer player in a day in 2004 when such a career seemed difficult to comprehend — especially for someone who spent an entire career without going to Europe.
“Coming here in 2007, I had no idea that I would be here for 10 of the next 11 years,” Wingert said. “But I’m incredibly blessed and thankful to spend so much time here with such a great group of guys and with this fanbase.”
