Portland Timbers Star Nat Borchers Retires After 14 Years

Nat Borchers, the Portland Timbers' defender who helped lead the team to their championship in 2015, announced Friday that he is retiring after 14 seasons.

Borchers, who also won a championship in 2009 with Real Salt Lake, was one of only 14 players in MLS history to play in at least 340 games.

"If I could go back and write a script for my career, I never would have dreamed up this journey," he wrote in a statement. "Although this decision has been tremendously difficult, I feel it is the right one for me and my family.

"I am excited for the future challenges that await."

Borchers, 35, played four seasons at the University of Denver before starting his career with the Colorado Rapids in 2003. He spent three years with them before joining a Norwegian team in 2006.

He rejoined the MLS for the 2008 season, signing with Real Salt Lake. He spent seven seasons with them, each time making it to the playoffs.

The Timbers signed Borchers for the 2015 season - a move helped propel them all to the championship.

"Nat Borchers will forever be etched in Portland Timbers history for the role he played in helping the club win the 2015 MLS Cup." said Caleb Porter, head coach of the Timbers. “More than that, he’s shown throughout his career with every club that he’s a first-class professional, on and off the pitch.

"We look forward to his continued involvement with the Timbers."

In that championship season, Borchers started 31 regular-season games and each of the Timbers' six playoff games.

Last season, he started 21 games - playing 1,812 minutes and scoring one goal - before a season-ending Achilles injury in a match against the LA Galaxy.

Photo courtesy Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers