AFI’s All-Europe Team: Linebacker – Sebastian Gauthier, Frankfurt Galaxy
Sebastian Gauthier from Sweden has always been a defensive standout whether playing safety or, as he did this year, linebacker with the champions of the European League of Football, the Frankfurt Galaxy.
He just makes a difference wherever he is on the field. For this reason, the AFI selection panel selected him as one of the All-Europe Team linebackers.
Playing weak outside linebacker for the Galaxy, the 6′, 216-pound Gauthier was his team’s leading tackler and fourth in the ELF with 84 tackles in 12 games. Frankfurt allowed the fewest points in the ELF giving up just 168 points in the 12 games (including playoffs and championship), or 14 points a game. In fact, he has had a career of impact play on defense. In 2020, he signed with the Helsinki Wolverines in Finland’s Maple League and in the four games he played, he notched 22 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss in helping the team reach the Maple Bowl.
The 28-year-old Gauthier had spent the previous two seasons playing defensive back with the Frankfurt Universe in the German Football League where he recorded 77 tackles and nine tackles for loss along with three interceptions in helping the Universe reach the German Bowl in 2018 and the GFL semifinals in 2019. He played safety and cornerback for the 2017 Swedish finalists, the Örebrö Black Knights. With Gauthier as a key component in the secondary, the Black Knights held opposing offenses to 137 yards passing on only a 34% completion rate. He and his teammates gave up just nine passing touchdowns all season. The year before, 2016, Gauthier was an integral part of the number one ranked defense in Sweden.
Born in Sonoma, California, Gauthier moved with his family to Sweden at the age of seven. He started playing football with the Västerås Roedeers before joining the Black Knights in 2016. He played high school football in Sonoma, California.
He has been a mainstay on the Swedish national team both as a junior and senior and started for his country during the 2021 European Championship Game and also during the 2014 European Championships in Austria.
Watch Gauthier’s ELF highlights here:
