Rusty Pierce

Former MLS player[58]

What is Rusty Pierce known for?

Rusty Curtis Pierce, born on July 24, 1979, hails from The Woodlands, Texas, United States. As a former professional American soccer player, Rusty made significant strides in his soccer career and graced various teams in Major League Soccer.

Before his professional journey, Pierce honed his skills at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro from 1997 to 1999, making quite an impact in the 51 games he played. Following his junior season, he signed a Project-40 contract with Major League Soccer and entered the 2000 MLS SuperDraft where the New England Revolution picked him as the 14th overall.

As a rookie, Rusty quickly earned his place in the Revolution's starting lineup thanks to his tenacious defending. Despite experiencing injury setbacks in the 2002 and 2004 seasons, he remained a mainstay with the Revolution for four years. In his tenure with the Revolution, Pierce made a total of 113 appearances.

After the 2004 season, Real Salt Lake selected Rusty during the 2004 MLS Expansion Draft, marking his next destination in the league. He made 15 appearances with this team. After the 2005 season, he transferred to the Columbus Crew, where Rusty played for two years and marked another 39 appearances. He then took a hiatus from soccer for a year, during which he founded a financial investment company and worked as a real estate broker in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Rusty returned to the game in 2009 to play for the Wilmington Hammerheads in the USL Second Division. He was part of the team for a brief period, where he made 4 appearances. Over his career, Pierce played a total of 171 matches in domestic leagues across all the teams he represented.

While he has represented the United States national team at a number of youth levels, his senior level debut remained unrealized. However, this didn't deter his contributions to the sport, and he left a lasting legacy as a passionate and tenacious defender.

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