Fire midfielder Brian Gutierrez's competitive drive started on Chicago's Southwest Side
CHICAGO (CBS) – The Chicago Fire have more than a handful of homegrown players on the roster.
Altogether, nine are from the Chicago area, including Brian Gutierrez. The midfielder already has three goals in his fifth season with the club, and has become one of the faces of the team.
Gutierrez credited his MLS success to growing up in a home that was filled with soccer players.
"It gives me goosebumps everytime I hear that roar from the crowd," Gutierrez said. "Them cheering me on. It's honestly, wow it's like a full circle when I hear that."
One of his earliest memories of the Chicago Fire was attending a game at SeatGeek Stadium at 10 years old. It was not far from where he grew up, near Midway Airport.
Just six years later, he'd become the sixteenth homegrown signing in club history.
"Coming through the academy here, I think it's always been a learning environment for me," he said. "I know a lot of these coaches here too that have helped me grow as a player and a person and I think that's what's helping me grow each and every day."
Gutierrez's growth was apparent through each of his first four seasons. Last year, the Chicago native led the team in assists and was named Team MVP. He scored two goals last year, a mark the 20-year-old has already eclipsed early in his fifth season.
"Being that consistent player, being the player that my team can count on when things go difficult in the game, I think that's my goal," Gutierrez said.
Before he was scoring goals for the Fire, he was trying to score on his two older siblings at home.
"I would always play with my brother and sister, mainly my brother downstairs in the basement and it would get crazy," he said. "Always trying to beat my brother in those little games that we would always play. That competitive drive that we always had growing up, I think that's what helped me reach my goals."
Gutierrez said his parents helped shape that competitive drive as well as they both played the game.
"My parents coached me at this park district in Marquette Park," he said. "I think that's where I started playing outdoors. I was a little bit better than the other kids my age so they would always play me up [in age group]. I was always play up growing up, two years up, three years up."
Now, everytime he takes the pitch as a professional at Soldier Field, Gutierrez remembers where it all began.
"When I score, I try to point at them and show love to them because, without them, I think I wouldn't be here," he said.
Gutierrez is set to be in Chicago for a while longer after signing a new contract through 2028 last offseason.
"It's honestly a dream come true," he said. "I think it's really special. I'm really grateful for the opportunity and I cherish it a lot, so I'm trying to improve everyday and helping my team succeed."
For Gutierrez, success this season would mean leading the Fire to the team's first playoff appearance since 2017.
Gutierrez's favorite player growing up was Lionel Messi, who is starring for Inter Milan, and will travel to Soldier Field on Aug. 31. Gutierrez said it's mindblowing that he's playing in the same league as the soccer legend and has that game circled on the calendar.
