Alex Morgan retires a pioneer I WNTTN Reaction Show

It's weird to imagine women's soccer, soccer in general, without her in it. It's just, it's a weird kind of realization that you have to come to, you know. Welcome to We Need to Talk Now presented by AT&T. Wow. We have a very special episode of We Need to Talk Now because after 15 years or 15 seasons, I should say, Alex Morgan has announced that she's retiring. She's been in soccer for over 30, but after 15 years in the NWSL, she has said, hey, we're retiring. Hanging it up. We're going to talk more about that because it's not just that. There's many layers to this, but I'm here to hash it all out with Ashley Nichols, of course. And joining us today is Sandra Herrera. Thank you so much, Sandra. Thank you for joining us today. Hi. Thank you. Before we dive into all of it, just a little bit of housekeeping. We want to, once again, remind all of you to follow us on our social channels here, whether it's our individual channels or the show's channels or just both. You can do both. There's no limit to how many accounts you can follow. And as a reminder as well, make sure you guys are turning on your subscriptions or rather your notifications on YouTube so you can go ahead and get notified whenever we drop special episodes like this. But if you are not a visual person, you're more of an audio person when it comes to your podcast. Right here, we got you covered as well. This QR code, you scan it and we will be found wherever you get your pods. We're on Spotify. We're on Apple. So there's no excuse to not be tapping in with We Need to Talk now because we are everywhere. All right. Back to the main events. Yeah, we are definitely everywhere. And, you know, just like this, this is a special pod. So you want to make sure you have those notifications and everything turned on. So, you know, when these things pop up, because sometimes we got to jump on and talk about how Alex Morgan is retiring after 15 years of professional soccer, 30 years overall, I think she said in her statement. And, you know, there were so many things that she said. We actually have some of the quotes from her statement. And we can take a look at those before we break down what our initial thoughts are. But I have so much clarity about this decision. And I'm so happy to finally tell you it has been a long time coming. And this decision was not easy. Soccer has been a part of me for 30 years. It was one of the first things that I ever loved. And I gave everything to the sport. And what I got in return was more than anything I could have ever dreamed of. That was great. And then there was also another kind of part of it that we wanted to share as well, because it's important to the conversation about the initial reaction. She said, Charlie came up to me the other day and said that when she grows up, she wants to be a soccer player. It made me immensely proud, not because I wish for her to become a soccer player when she grows up, but because a pathway exists that even a four-year-old can see now. So powerful. We're changing lives. And the impact we have on the next generation is irreversible. And I'm proud in the hand that I had in making it happen, in pushing the game forward, and leaving it in a place that I'm so happy and proud of. And on top of that, she also announced that she, well, she said that Charlie is going to be a big sister. So that's really exciting. But Sandra, I'm going to start off with you. When you heard about this retirement, I know you were one of the first people to hear about it because you always get the news first. What was your initial thoughts when it dropped? I gotta say, there's still a part of me that's processing it even now. This is like a news story or an announcement that is definitely bigger than just like a 6 to 12-hour news cycle for sure. I think it's one of those things where it's like, Alex Morgan is a part of a very specific generation of players that represent the national team and NWSL as a whole. And so when it comes to this particular generation of players, the concept of retirement is something that has been ongoing. We've said some farewells to players from even last year now into this year. And so it wasn't so much that it's just like, oh, she's making this announcement. I think it was just the fact that it was today, right? That it's coming in the middle of a season. She's given us like a day and a half to, you know, maybe get into check for her final game. And the fact that she's also announcing not just her retirement, but that she's also pregnant. So there was like, like you mentioned, a ton of layers to all this to react to. So I almost kind of feel like I'm still processing it now. Yeah, I know I am. Ashley, how did you feel when you heard it? It was definitely a shock and it was a two-parter, right? It was the retirement and the pregnancy. And I just, first of all, I love her daughter's name. I love the name Charlie for a girl. It's one of my like favorite names for a little girl or just like girl in general. You know, it's crazy. I feel like we've had so many different layers of either retirements or jersey retirements. And it's solidified such amazing careers in the past. I want to say a few weeks. From Maya Moore to Megan Rapinoe to now here we are with Alex Morgan. I mean, it just comes to show. And I think we started off the season. We were talking about Candice Parker. It's just, there's so much. And it's just, I think that you kind of put this infinite timeline on these athletes sometimes because they seem to be so larger than life and kind of immortal, if you will. You never really imagine that their career will come to an end. I know I had that same kind of feeling when Kobe Bryant retired. Like I thought Kobe would play for his entire life. Like I never imagined that there would be a day that or a season that came around and Kobe wasn't laced enough with sneakers to get out there on the court. So I feel kind of the same sentiment with Alex Morgan. She's such a huge part of my experience as a fan in the world of soccer. She's probably, if not the one of the few players that I followed their entire career. I remember watching her from the time I was really young to as an adult. So it just seems like it's weird to imagine women's soccer, soccer in general, without her in it. It's just, it's a weird kind of realization that you have to come to, you know? Yeah, when I heard it, my first reaction was definitely shocked, just like everybody else. You never know when those things are gonna come out, right? So when they do drop, you're just like, what is happening right now? But then also in addition to that, I just was like, good for her. Yeah, amazing for her. To be able to leave an impact and we're gonna talk more about her impact in a moment, but to leave the impact that she has on this sport, you know, and to be able to go out in the way that she wants to and to also kind of be in a celebration because she's gonna be a mother again. And so it's just, it's a beautiful thing to be able to say, you know what? I knew at the beginning of this year that I wanted to retire and I have many reasons to retire. But in addition, I'm also gonna be a mother again. So it was a beautiful thing to hear. And I know I personally am excited for her because think about the impact that she's made. She talked about her businesses, you know, what she's done for soccer and women's sports in general and what she's done on the field. All of those things. And then you also get to kind of paint the picture of what you want it to be moving forward. And I foresee, I mean, I don't wanna put anything on her. I want her to live her retirement the way she wanna live it. But I foresee her making even more of an impact, you know, now moving forward. So whether it be in her family or with the sport or businesses or whatever it may be. And so she's getting to do it her way. And anytime that an athlete gets to do that, good for them, you know? It's hard to retire on that type of note. I don't know if you both picked up on this, but like, I don't know, I overanalyze a lot of these retirement announcements sometimes. There was just such a profound clarity when she was putting this video out. She got straight to the point and she just kind of like ran off like what she's accomplished, what she wishes to continue to accomplish. It didn't seem like this was a hasty decision. It didn't seem like this was a forced decision. This seemed like somebody who very much can still play, but is deciding that this chapter is closed and she's at peace with that. And I found that to be like really just, although obviously it's sad as a fan, I found that, I found, you know, solace in that solace. I found, you know, warmth in that to know that like she's walking away on like her own terms. I don't know if anyone, if either of you picked up on that in her video, but I- Yeah, it's refreshing, honestly, because I think when we broaden the lens to women's sports in general, like not just women's soccer, like there are moments where we see and celebrate retirements that maybe come too soon in an athlete's life, right? Whether it's like for injury or let's be real living wages, you know, lack of pay, stuff like that, you know, retirements that we're celebrating because a player maybe is at a moment in their life where they feel like this is actually the only option I have now moving forward. So it is a little bit almost refreshing that warmth that you talk about where a player can sit down in their space and put a camera in front of them and record a farewell message on their terms. Yeah. And you can tell there was a little bit of, there was clarity, but there was also like, wow, like I'm doing this. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, we can't talk Alex Morgan without talking her impact. I mean, undoubtedly, we'll be just talking about her impact on and off the field for, you know, ever, I feel like, especially in these next few windows of time and rather closer rather than, you know, further away. So, I mean, just running through some of her accolades, we're talking about a two-time World Cup champion, 2015, 2019, Olympic gold medalist, 2012, NWSL champion. We're talking about, she made her U.S. women's national team debut in 2010. And later that year, scored a crucial goal in the FIFA World Cup playoff to help the team qualify for the World Cup. We're talking about a two-time finalist for the best FIFA women's player, two-time U.S. player, U.S. soccer player of the year, finishes fifth on the all-time goal scoring list for the U.S. women's national team in 20 and 223 international appearances. And one of my favorites, in the 86 games in which Morgan scored, the U.S. women's national team did not lose. Just want to put that out there as well, just in case anyone didn't know. It's almost endless. It's like endless. It's just insane. Rattling them off. It's an insane resume. It's just an insane Rolodex. I mean, when we talk about her impact and just like a favorite memory or whatever, mine has to be that 100, when she hit the 100 club mark in the, what was it, in 2019, the first 15 minutes of that game, she hits that goal. And I think she became, what, the seventh American woman at the time to reach that accolade. I mean, it was an insane game to watch, but seeing her, oh, it's still only seven. Okay, Emma, thank you for the correction. That's my favorite memory. Like, that's the first thing. When I think Alex Morgan, that's the first thing at the top of my head. I don't know about you guys, but for me, that's there. She's part of so many iconic moments. How can you pick? I'm like, and again, I'm just thinking about everything you just rattled off. I mean, and she's got, she not only has those moments, but she also has them in moments under the brightest lights in the biggest stages, you know? So I gotta shout out that Olympic semifinal against Canada, where she came up huge. We're talking about heading that goal away and kind of just crushing some dreams, some Canadian dreams of Olympic glory there. I thought that was massive. And to do it in London at Wembley Stadium, huge, huge, huge moment. Definitely huge moments on the field. Like I said, it's hard to pick. I really, when I'm looking through and I'm reading them, it's hard to pick. But for me, the impact moment that I see the most with Alex Morgan is what she's done for soccer, like off the field and literally time and time again, standing up for, you know, women athletes, but specifically in soccer. And, you know, really when she did it for the first time, when all the allegations were happening in the NWSL and she, I mean, she went on, I want to say it was like the Today Show. She had a whole bunch of tweets and statements that she made. She stood up for- Called it a systematic failure, I believe. Like in 2021. She did. Called it a systematic failure. Stood up for the players time and time again, especially in a time when it was not something that was common. Okay. It was not something. Now I feel like athletes in general, but also women athletes feel that they can flex their voice more because Alex Morgan did it. Yes. Because she did. And other people too. I'm not saying she's the only one. But we're talking about her today in her retirement. So looking at what she did, I mean, the CBA that was just signed is a direct reflection of the way that her and other players stood up for players time and time again. And so that is what stands out to me the most and will always stand out to me to me the most about Alex Morgan. Yeah. I mean, she also led that infamous lawsuit battle where they were fighting for what was the equal pay, equal prize money and equal working conditions within U.S. software between the men and the women. And I mean, never afraid to utilize her platform when utilizing your platform was kind of taboo, to say the least. And it's it's always, you know, refreshing. And I think that I think there's we see that so many different times in sports. There's pioneers that kind of lead the path and then make it safer for everybody else to go ahead and use their voice. I think about, you know, when you talk about basketball on the men's side, DeMar DeRozan and Kevin Love were the two biggest names when it came to the mental health crusade. And that just kind of started a domino effect that we're now seeing, you know, across the league and across sports in general. I think that Alex Morgan was a pioneer in making sure that not only was U.S. soccer doing right by both the men and the women when it came to pay, but also just when it came to their safety and their comfort within the sport that they play when we talk about, you know, the sexual misconduct and all those allegations that transpired as well. Like there wasn't even an HR department at the time. You know, there wasn't there wasn't anything. Well, and then also, in addition to that, there were a lot of players that were saying that things were going on and nobody was listening to them. And sometimes, unfortunately, the way the world works, it takes somebody with a certain stature and level of power to be the one to stand up and say, no, no, no, we have been saying this. You have not been listening. We sent the emails. We did all of these things. And you are denying it, but they're right here. And I'm going to say this and I'm going to stand up and do it. And that's what Alex Morgan did and continued to do during her career. I think that's the I think that's probably one of the biggest, most epic mic drops an athlete can have, especially a woman athlete in women's sports. We're citing a very specific time in NWSL history where there was very important investigative reporting that was done, kind of really breaking things open for sort of this reckoning of change to come into play. And here you have Alex Morgan as part of that story, because players who at the time on her club with Portland Thorns were going through some very terrible things and they had nowhere to go or felt like they had no one to turn to or that no one was listening to. So they went to their teammate, who was the most prominent face, like arguably the face of women's soccer at the time then. And now we're talking about her now. So obviously now as well. But that's how some of this change came to light. And as you had this, this new cycle coming in of all of this reporting and the former commissioner trying to spin it, like, I'm so sorry that this happened. And Alex Morgan tweeting out the screenshots of the emails, love them reaching out. Like, that is such the receipt for capsule of my job. So it's incredible. Her legacy, like, yes, listening to this list of incredible titles, medals and individual accolades, incredible stuff. But then we can also look at off the pitch and all of the impact that she's had off of it as well. It's incredible. It is truly incredible on every level. And I know that when I look at the landscape of all of women's sports, we wouldn't be where we are in any of them without the fight of players like Alex Morgan and what they did on all the levels that they played on, right? Because it wasn't just the NWSL. I mean, she literally has stood up time and time again for whatever it may be, whether it be equal pay or, you know, what was happening within the league, the safety for players and all of that. And it's where we are now is a direct reflection of the hard work and just the, I don't want to say moxie, but just to be able to stand up and do something like that when it was really, really hard to do. It's still hard, but it's just a testament to who she is and really the impact that she's left both on and off the field. I think also one of my favorite things about her and overall, I think what her legacy will also include is, you know, she kind of got her start later than the average soccer player, right? She didn't join a youth club team until she was like 14, 13, 14 years old. And then that was only seven years before she, you know, was playing in the World Cup. And, you know, then she was rejected from a team, I think the year before that. And it was just, I think that she just has so much testimonial in her journey to be where she is now as one of the greatest ever. And I think it just really shows also it's never too late to chase your dream and to pursue your dream and to just go after it. You know, again, like in soccer years, she was late, you know, trying to become a massive soccer player. It just, it usually, they start a lot younger than that. And I think that the fact that she did on her terms and, you know, there's rejection and then there was movement and then there was rejection again and there was more movement. I just, I think it's a testament to just not giving up and that not everybody, you know, is going to have, you know, the messy effect and it's going to have like a, just a crazy trajectory from the time they're born. And like, if you don't have that or, you know, you're not, or you're not Ronaldo, you're not, you know, like not everybody, there's the anomalies and then there are people who have to work a little bit harder. And I think it's just cool to sometimes see somebody at the end of their career with a crazy resume, a Rolodex of accolades and to look back and see how they started and still know that that path also can equal just crazy success. And I think she's a testament to that as well. Yeah, absolutely. And it comes a little bit full circle, right? And like some of what she was speaking about in this, in this farewell video that she posted on her, on her personals, referencing her daughter, Charlie and, and dropping that quote about how, like, she can see this and because she can see it, those are the things that she's saying to mommy, like, mommy, when I grow up, I want to be a soccer player. And there's something so poetic about kind of knowing the effort that you have tried to put in to grow this sport in this country to help sustain a league that maybe at one point was not stable and know that that is a possibility for her, if that is truly what her daughter wants in the future. I mean, this is, this is, Alex Morgan has played, has had a role in launching three different clubs in NWSL. It started with Portland Thorns as an inaugural team in 2013, going to Orlando Pride as an expansion franchise, and then going back home to California with San Diego. This is all part of her legacy in, like, helping to grow this sport in this country. And from her daughter and even playing with teenagers on that San Diego Wave team that probably saw this player growing up. It's, it's like I said, it's absolutely poetic. Definitely poetic. So this game, her last match, I should say, is going to be on Sunday with the San Diego Wave, correct? What do you anticipate seeing at this match? How do you even prepare for this? Emotions across the entire scale, right? Tears, smiles, laughter, joy, heartache, all of, all the above. And emotions, I'm sure, that'll play out on the pitch as well. The North Carolina Cards are no scrubs. They're absolutely in the playoff picture. They want to be title contenders. And San Diego Wave, while they're not out of contention, just said they have struggled this season. And who knows? Maybe this could be one of those things where it kind of spurs something within them to try to put together a good performance for a teammate that they care for so much. And that's going to make it tough for North Carolina, for sure. But they've already sold out the entire lower bowl. They're opening up the upper bowl. So it's probably going to be a very, very well-attended match with a lot of high emotions and hopefully some good soccer, too. I know it's, the announcement just came out, obviously, her retirement. But have you been hearing any rumblings about the Wave doing anything special for this game? You know, whether it's pre-match, post-match, anything to just celebrate the legacy of Alex Morgan that they have with their sleeve or that it's a little bit too soon for them to kind of release any of that? Yeah, I'm sure it's going to, there's likely going to be some sort of either pre or post-game recognition. I think whatever the player is comfortable with and obviously the locker room as well. Maybe they don't want to get too many high emotions before a kickoff. So they'll check in with that. But I wouldn't be surprised if the club also wants to maybe have something more special, more planned out. You know, in their final regular season home game, maybe that's something where they want to actually have like a full-on effective type of send-off event. Maybe it's in a game where she doesn't actually play, right? So, I mean, that's always possible, too. I wouldn't be surprised if maybe even U.S. soccer is trying to figure something that out in the works because she is expecting a child with her husband. You know, obviously, there's a pregnancy that they need to keep an eye on. Yeah, in terms of the actual last game, this might be the one, but that doesn't maybe necessarily mean that the celebrations are going to be wrapped up just like that either. Well, we'll definitely be on the lookout for all those celebrations because she deserves every single flower that's coming her way. Yeah, every single one of them. But thank you so much for joining us. I mean, again, we are still in recovery mode. We just found out about this like the rest of the world. And I know you guys are, too. Make sure in the comments, share your favorite moment. Alex Morgan moment. We want to hear that. You know, you're always in the conversation with us. And we definitely want to hear what you have to say about this as well, because I know you're in shock, too. So and, you know, subscribe, comment, like, do all the things. But make sure you're tapped in so that we can kind of heal together on this retirement announcement, for sure. But thank you so much, Sandra, for being here. And of course, Ashley's here as well as she always is. But until next time, until the next big announcement, whatever it may be, this has been We Need to Talk Now presented by AT&T.