Alex Morgan Retirement Press Conference FULL VIDEO

first of all I'll just open up by thanking everyone for being here today uh and joining us here in person at the snap uh whether you're on Zoom uh and then the many many fans joining us on Twitter Youtube that we're live streaming from thank you so much uh it's no surprise that there's so many of you joining uh because we're announcing a very special but very Bittersweet occasion that is the retirement of an icon Legend a forever legend of the game Alex Morgan you don't need my voice twice um over her distinguished 13-year professional career Alex has not only excelled on the field with her remarkable achievements we're talking two-time World Cup gold medalists Olympic gold medalists US soccer female Player of the Year twice you guys got the press release I don't have time to list it all out now but um she's also made a profound impact off the field as an advocate for equality and just a role model for millions of aspiring athletes so this Sunday will be Alex's final professional match and today we have the privilege of hearing from her directly about her decision and her Reflections on such an extraordinary career so I'm sure I can speak for many of us that we are really grateful to have had the opportunity to witness your gamechanging impact on this sport uh and within our community here in San Diego so with that being said Alex if you have a couple opening remarks uh yeah this it honestly feels a little weird um because I it all just uh came really quick um not the decision at all but um just letting my teammates know letting the world know um I wasn't I don't know I'm ready for it but just to go on this emotional roller coaster it's still the end of something that I have that's been like such a big part of me for so many years is really hard um we all know yesterday um my decision um you know was announced to retire from soccer and um I'm just so grateful to everyone who played a part big or small in my career and I'm so fortunate that I get to end that career here in this incredible City in San die Diego um it has [Music] been it has been a long time um of playing soccer of dreaming to be a professional soccer player when I was younger um to then being a mom and seeing my daughter um just be so inspired by my teammates and just call them her teammates and her best friends it has um just been an incredible ride um I'm really fortunate I get one last game with this team here at Snap Dragon I will be playing limited minutes um this weekend but nonetheless it's always an honor to be able to lace up my boots and step out on that field um for one last time so thank you all for being here um I'm going I tried not to be too emotional with um the questions asked my answers but definitely open it up to any questions now thank you thanks Al uh we'll start with some questions in the room and we're going to just limit it to two questions per outlet and then get to some on Zoom so uh we'll start with SD football I hope my legacy is that I push the game for forward that I helped gain respect um for the women's game that I um increase of value in the investment in the women's game that I helped players uh and myself um not only be respected in the game but have better resources have be protected have player safety be at the Forefront um have women soccer players do just that play soccer not have to fight for so much much so many other things that we've had to continually fight for um and have had to even before I um stepped on the field um with the national team or with my club teams various Club teams um here in San Diego I just want to represent this city um so proudly and I believe I've done that for the last two and a half years um to be honest I was not expecting to finish my career midseason um this came unexpected and at the beginning of 2024 I wanted to end this season um you know going to playoffs winning a championship you have you have big hopes for your last year and um I I still have such high hopes for this team but unfortunately um plans don't always go the way that you Dro them up and uh and I I think that for me it's just being a forever supporter of this team this organization and just being forever embedded into this community here sorry I forgot to mention we do have microphones so that people on Zoom can hear so um Whoever has the next question oh he's ready to go Alex uh thank you for a great career and for coming here to finish in San Diego what are the possibilities of Alex Morgan potentially considering uh the coaching area uh I have not taken any coaching licenses I'll just say that I I don't think coaching is in my future I H I think that I've found my calling in um just investing in women's sports um doing as much as I can to give as big of a platform to women's sports as possible I do that through my media company together I'm doing that through my Foundation the Alex Morgan Foundation that I launched last year here in San Diego um through other various businesses and Investments personal Investments that I've had one being unrivaled the new women's basketball league 3v3 league that's coming out um so I see that that's where that's where I will make the most impact Jonathan you had one here we'll pass the mic along K baton hey Alex uh Joseph with the but on her Collective um your is remarkable but I think what is remarkable even further beyond that is the the human being that you are and the the incredible impact you've made on women's sports now that you're sitting in this position um what do you see as kind of the next phase of that impact and what kind of role do you hope to play in the future uh and as a follow-up question um earlier on this year um we asked you kind of what taking a bet on yourself looks like this year in the season and I'm curious has your answer to that question changed yeah I'll I'll just answer that one first um I have always been an advocate of betting on yourself of trying and not giving up and um looking back to this year like it's in no way what I imagined um through the Olympics through um you know the season that we're having here um but in no way would I ever regret um playing one more year because I've always told myself that like if you don't try you can't succeed the only way to succeed is through trying and giving everything and that's all that I've tried to do and as much as this year has been difficult mentally physically with injuries um left off um an important roster um it's all part of the character that I've built to you know respond to things and to overcome adversity and this isn't the first time in my career um that things like this have happened and I've always been able to overcome them and I've always leaned on teammates on family um on those that I've built my support system around to um to help and I'm you know so so grateful that I have such Clarity in the decision that I made at the start of this year um to retire at the end of the season um yes it's cut short but it it was you know it was a year that I am so grateful for regardless of all the ups and downs and um that's one thing that I will always say is to always bet on yourself if you don't have it like in your heart um um no one can teach you that no one can give you that you have to give yourself that um and that's the first leg up on anything um when it comes to my role after soccer um you know that's still that's still you know to be to be determined I'm you know I'm really happy supporting this team um I really love this team so much I also love the national team you know it's it's a Bittersweet way to end but um I gave everything to that team for 15 years and um just to hear all of my teammates um you know calling texting um writing to me um just knowing that we really did grow up together on that team it's uh it's just more than honestly I I said it yesterday the return is more than I could have ever hoped for because it's true I I had a dream to play professional soccer I didn't know that I all of this um all these extra opportunities and friendships and um just love and passion for so many different things would come out of uh wanting to become a professional soccer player and living out my dreams so I'm just really grateful and I'm really happy where I am and um and I'm looking forward to continue growing our family in the city um and continuing on my various businesses that I just talked about as well thanks Al uh yes up front here Abraham hey Alex thank you for the time um I was wondering if you could talk a little bit to what it means to have all your teammates here watching you and you know supporting you through this retirement and what was the conversation like when when you told them that you were retired um I am overwhelmed and just uh so grateful to have my teammates here I had no idea um at all so it's just walking in this room it's incredible to just see the support um that they're showing me today um just funny enough I was driving in here of course like late and rushing in and um the security at the loading dock was like oh are you one of the players and I was like I'm the player like I'm just the only player that's here and he was like okay yeah park right there um and then I walked in and I was like oh okay I am one of the players yes it's not just me um but it just was incredible to see uh my teammates here and um I think just like having a special team like this and players like that I look in the back of the room that are 16 years old um to players that are closer to my age so players are closer in age to my daughter than they are to me but having just having that relationship with them just getting to know them and you know being able to lean on them and vice versa and knowing that we're all peers and we can all learn from each other that's been the most special part of it all um I may have had more time in the game but I definitely don't feel like um I know or are owed more than they are and um and I think that uh these last couple of years in San Diego it's just been amazing to have just so many different teammates from around the country around the world um support each other and uh and I'm yeah I'm just just grateful the way wayer one of the more attended teams in the league as far as like fans go can you talk a little bit to what it means to have helped build such such a strong strong fan base in such a short time in San Diego uh yeah it's no secret what we built um is special and we have the highest attendance of the league um for the last two seasons since we've moved to Snapdragon and overflowed at Terrero um it's it's just been amazing to see this city Rally behind this team and this team also um use our platform to go out in the community and want to really dig in and be a part of um be a part of the city I haven't been on a team before where I've seen so many players going out to community events going out to um you know Charities and organizations to lend a helping hand to want to get more involved uh it has honestly been incredible to all literally every one of my team Ates showing up at last year's um first Gala for the Alex Morgan Foundation um which I hope they come again this year you're all invited um it yeah it this team is is honestly something special but also just the the people in this city the fans um are just Relentless in their willingness to support the teams here um and we feel so loved every single game um and and um you know soon enough coming very soon I will be one of those fans because I'm forever a fan of this team I think we had one in this maroon shirt over here Alex um Bryce Miller from the San Diego Union Tribune how old were you the last time you weren't playing soccer and what what do you think that little girl would think of the career you've had and the journey you've been on I honestly started playing soccer when I was five or so and before that I was going to my sister's soccer games and kicking a ball around holding the ball you know around the sidelines watching my sisters play that's a big reason that I you know wanted to grow our family is I I want Charlie to have siblings like that I want siblings to look up to her um I want a big chaotic family like not too big but chaotic family like I had growing up um my sisters meant everything to me and they were the inspiration behind why I wanted to play soccer in the first place um just when I look back to that little girl I just see someone just so competitive so eager to do everything so eager to try everything so confident and fearless I see that in my daughter now and um and it makes me proud that I've fostered that in a way that my mom did for me and my sisters growing up um I think just raising her around a raising my daughter Charlie around um a group of women every day that are so confident in what they do that just have purpose have found their calling and um and are so like willing and open to share that with her um is something that not a lot of girls get at that age and um it was important to me to bring her on with me on trips because I wanted her to experience that I wanted her to see just how incredible the women were not just in their passion of playing soccer but everything else they did every all of us as female athletes do more than just play our sport you know we're building businesses we're creating um our own Charities where um you know helping our families back home where you know there's so many different things that we're fighting for um you know equality within the sport with sport Equity um you you know doing different advocacy um so there's always just something more to FEMA athletes and I think that's you know so special and unique to female to women's sports um being able to to show my daughter that you know is something that as a mom is just it is honestly the most amazing thing to be able to witness yeah go ahead here uh Alex congratulations Chris gr with cbs8 here in San Diego um what would be your message to young girls um who are watching this right now who are going to watch your highlights on YouTube and all the work that you've done um for women's sports about achieving their dreams and then also for parents about how they can support those dreams yeah I think you know for for a young girl there's no secret to success it's all about hard work it's all about believing in yourself betting on yourself and having that confidence um and building that support system if that's your parents if that's your siblings if that's your teammates or your friends um building people and those building blocks around you um that believe in the same thing that you do um and if that's to become a professional athlete if if that's to make your high school soccer team whatever that is um you need someone around you to help be like yes you can do this because if you believe it in your heart you need someone to be able to do um to validate that like I have not done anything in my career alone ever like I've always stood on the shoulders of my family of my siblings of um my teammates at times like we have all worked together to create something special and you know win medals have success do all these incredible things but nothing is done Alone um and so I just want young girls to know that anything they set their minds to they can achieve and I am trying to help create a pathway for every young girl to see that and to know that you know if you see it you can be it and I think that's so important important when it comes to the investment in women's sports is you're seeing so much more women's sports on TV nowadays um on streaming platforms anywhere and everywhere through my Media Company together um with the stories that we're doing to to uplift uh women in sport all of that didn't exist when I was a kid um I was lucky to be able to play on an all girls soccer team sometimes a c-ad team at school but an all girl soccer team not all women my age were had a girl soccer team they had to play on a boy soccer team or boy sports team so just to see the progress that we've made um in the last you know 20 or 30 years it's incredible and just in the last five years alone in the nwsl on the global stage um we're seeing everything blow up in the way that we always fought for and we always knew would happen and so I think it's just for that young girl it's go after anything and everything you could imagine like do what you think is impossible we'll take a couple more in the room then head to the Johnny you had one Johnny Richardson everything San Diego uh at what point did you make the decision that this Sunday will be your final match um a few weeks ago I found out I was pregnant and um it was as unexpected as it was um I was so happy because this was what our family wanted wanted um a couple months sooner than expected but um but nonetheless uh we were very Overjoyed so I think the last couple of weeks was very stressful but it was you know Consulting with my doctor um talking with my husband um kind of understanding when could be the last game that I or when I could play up until safely when would be the the final game when I would finally when I would announce and finally finally be able to tell my teammates and the world and it just felt like this was the right time um I felt like the last couple of weeks I sort of lost a step um you know in playing and I um and I felt like for my body and um my mind and my heart this was the right decision at this time we'll head to the your team teammates I told my teammates um on Wednesday morning so I wanted I wanted them to know um you know good 24 hours before I told the rest of the world we'll head to the back Frank you had one we'll wait for the mic okay it's so warm in here I feel like I'm swea okay hi Alex this is AA for the from Spain and I want you to ask um you know San Diego make a lot of efforts to grow soccer all over the years but it seems that when Alex Mor signed for San Diego everyone take a look on the soccer here and start everything do you are you aware of that do you feel like that to be that person that spark for soccer here there has been a minor Spotlight on me in the last 10 years 15 years um that I have felt but but um I have taken that very seriously and when I chose to come to San Diego I did it because of the expectations that San Diego is setting on themselves the standard um that this organization um had from the start and um it was important to me to be able to not only share that Vision to be but to be able to try to make San Diego one of the best clubs in the world I think that we still have um we still have a ways to go to getting there but the fact that you look in this room and see all my teammates these are some of the best players in the world you look out and see the fans these are some of the best fans in the world and I don't think that any other team is pulling in numbers like this week in and week out um you see what we've been able to build the the amount of trophies that we've been able to accumulate um from The Challenge Cup this year to the shields last year to making playoffs in our first year I don't know that a club in their first three years first two yeah two and a half years have been able to accomplish what this club has been able to accomplish in such short period of time so with that I'm very very proud of what of the part that I've played in that and um I want that Spotlight to continue on San Diego because I just think it's continuing to go up from here um regardless of you know the season that we've had thus far um this club is doing things um the right way these players are so passionate about playing here like I am and there's just a lot of like-minded people here at this organization and um that's why I'm so proud to play here I'm so proud to be a fan here um long after my playing career um year after year like I will be here in these stands cheering for these women um play their hearts out every weekend uh last one in the room from Frank and we need to get to the zoom um Alex first off congratulations um and just for all that you've done uh for the city but one thing I want to know is this is that you know before every match I got to assume that you got butterflies all you guys have butterflies in your stomach how much of the Butterflies going to be flying before this final match uh yeah it's it's interesting when you're like leading up to such a big game um and this feels very similar you're just like in training leading up and you're like okay don't roll your ankle like don't get injur don't get sick um and yeah I feel like there is going to be I think just not only like butterflies like you said like there's always nerves going into a game but I think this game I just want to soak it in I want to be wideeye like I was when I came into to um playing soccer when I was playing on the national team when I was 19 years old um I just want to soak everything in and this isn't just like a celebration of me this is a celebration of everyone that has done something to help me be here my family who um you know are going to be over 80 people in the stands on Sunday um you know so many friends who have reached out so many people that want to watch that game you know although it's might only be a few minutes or limited minutes um I just want to take in every moment of the game on Sunday from stepping into the locker room getting ready with my teammates um getting my ankle taped for One Last Time warming up um one last time and you know singing the national anthem on the field um with my daughter right there with me um she'll be there with me so I'm very excited about that um yeah it's just it's just all the little moments it's the accumulation of those little moments that you sometimes just take for granted because that's those are like the moments outside of the game like all we want to do as soccer players we want to play that 90-minute game but it's all those outside moment moments um that I'll definitely be looking forward to and then the moment that's my turn to step off the field um yeah I've I've just watched so many incredible players um I went to M Ham's retirement game in 2004 uh I don't even know how old I was my mom took me um because she knew I wanted to become a professional soccer player and so that like just had a profound impact on me I couldn't tell you how many minutes she played or what she even did on the field but the fact that I saw her for the last time ever step on the field and step off um just yeah it it like it changed me so from that to to Abby um to you know watching here at Snapdragon last year Megan orino um play her last game um Ali creger and now being able to do that it's going to be emotional I'm sure all right we'll get to a couple on the zoom here u megalin a Hanah if you want to unmute yourself and ask um I mean a couple of the names that you just mentioned but I I think about your time across the national team and the league and your relationships people like Megan Rino and I mean Becky S the list could go on how have they shaped you through your career and changed who you are as a person yeah players like Megan Becky Kelly we played on the national team for 15 years together like me and Kelly had our first caps together um you know Pino and Becky we you know we went to every single major tournament together um Kelly included and so just to think about those players and how they shaped me and who I am I mean it's it is so much I mean from not only on the field to having those hard conversations off the field and what we want to fight for uh where we stand on things um how we differ in our opinions and how that's okay uh you know I I just have so much to I've I've so much that I owe those players those three players that I played pretty much all of my career with um they're special people in my heart and um I would not be where I am today without them three um not only did they have and still have fantastic careers Becky still playing um but they are just incredible people that opened their hearts that were vulnerable able um and that gave everything when they stepped on the field and when they stepped off the field and I learned so much from at times sitting back and at times um stepping up at times leaning in a little bit and at times leaning out like there were times where um I I needed to step up and I felt uncomfortable and they gave me the confidence and vice versa so you know those those three are very special humans and they deserve just the world I yeah I adore those three Jeff C we'll have you go nextn it's wonder you know continuing the uh the off field Trend that you've talked about it how much the sport has grown and this league specifically uh and you've obviously been a part of that U I'm wondering you know if you've is there a particular development uh in the sport at large and how it's grown maybe this league specifically or the national team that you've seen more up close that you know you're most proud of seeing in terms of where the game is now versus where it was when you entered it yeah you know looking back to my career and the start of it um I look at you know overlapping with the legends of you know Abby wach Shannon box Chrissy rampone um Lauren holiday so many so many players that had such a huge impact on women's soccer um globally and here domestically and that's that's what I wanted I wanted to you know they talked about passing the torch and I took that and was I ready for that I have no idea but I you know I helped carry that for a long time on the national team and in doing so I felt like I had a responsibility not only a responsibility to fight for you know equal pay to fight for sports Equity to to do um you know different things in the sport to to uplift and protect players but also to make the game a Avenue to be able to play and make a living from from from whatever age you want to from whether that's 16 18 20 21 um I wanted players to have that Avenue and feel like they had the resources to be them best to be their best selves from that age I felt like I I sorry I feel like I've done my part in a way that I am although this year wasn't the year that I had hoped to have like I'm so proud of the US national team going to France and winning gold like that's that to me is a proud moment because I see some of those players um playing in that game you know I see Trinity s Naomi um you know I see even Croy coming in and um having a big part within the team when it was a little un unexpected for some of these younger players um who have been able to just focus on the themselves focus on their teams get better every day have a pathway to be able to do that have the resources to do that like that's what I fought for and I haven't always and I've known that I wouldn't always benefit from all the things that I fought for but in you know fighting for equal pay and attaining that finally was such a pivotal moment in um in the history of women's soccer it created this sort of butterfly effect throughout um throughout women's soccer globally that is irreversible um and that I only see continuing to grow so you know it as much as I want you know I wanted to be there this year and you know I I felt like we're in good hands like the future of women's soccer the now the present and the future of women's soccer is in such an amazing place where I have done everything that I've needed to do I have accomplished what everything that I have come to do and achieved what I've needed to do and to see those players step on the field and do work and be able to do it at such young age with such Poise um and such confidence like that's what this is all about that's why like I am so I'm so happy being here saying yes I'm retiring because we are more than fine we are great we'll take one more online Sandra Herrera go ahead thanks and CBS Sports um first congratulations to you Alex and and Charlie the Ann of pregnancy thanks for everything you've done for the game you changed it in so many ways and I would argue even including the media coverage of this so my question is related to that um you kind of bur onto the national stake in a time where public was was growing with social media and video and now we celebrate and different types of coverage so um how do you feel about what coverage was when you started in it growth over your time as AER and where and do you want to see cover of this game evolv um it's actually funny thinking about coverage when I started because um I learned like that I was drafted to Western New York Flash in 2011 um from our press officer when we landed in China with the national team cuzz like Twitter wasn't really a big thing it definitely wasn't broadcasted um there's clearly no service on planes back then um and so it's just to think that um we've come a long way where we actually won't have a draft moving forward um there yeah women soccer has come an incredible way but just coverage in general is I'm I'm yeah I'm floored by how um how well covered this sport is and all of the reporters and people that dug in at little or no salary to be to cover women's soccer for so long um when they did it for the passion because that's what we did Growing you know on the national team and early on with um you know with the WPS in the endl we played soccer because we were passionate about playing we didn't play for the money there was no money there trust me none um so it has come a long way and it is just so incredible to see the new broadcasting rights deal um just the new CBA taking place um with nwsl paa and nwsl in terms of um a new Revenue share model um that really has never been done before is unprecedented all of these things that women soccer is just it's not making a Mark it's building a new pathway that never existed before and it makes me so just happy that we have gone down a path that women's sports have accelerated in such a fast way and progressed over the last five or 10 years and I have been able to be out of you know I've had a front seat at it these last 10 years um and I hope to continue my part in women's sports but just to literally be at the front seat and watch and be a part of this all unfold um is is really amazing and yeah couldn't be happier um I believe we had one more question in the room um white pants yeah Naomi white pants I was like who's that oh yeah we need mic um Naomi GMA San Diego wave I have two questions first one what is your favorite soccer memory or a few if you can't pick one and the second one is can we still bring Charlie on a way trip um okay well the Charlie thing I don't know I mean she has has gr grown a liking to Hillary Nanny it's up to Hillary somehow she jumped to first place in the last three weeks I don't know she really put in the effort there um favorite soccer memories oh goodness um I mean I don't know it's I I think one one really special moment is when we had I think we had four or five moms on the team at once um between myself Casey Julie Crystal and AD and I you know growing up on the national team I had seen Christy rampone have two kids and just make it seem so easy and looking back I'm just like wow like that must have been so hard and she just was literally the hardest Defender to get around but also just wrangled two kids after training every day so I think like that was a really special moment to be able to enjoy with some of my teammates knowing how far we'd come and the support that we now get as moms and still as professional athletes um I also want to say some of my best memories is is when we won the Olympics and the two World Championships and it wasn't the like winning I mean it was the winning but it was just the fact that we were so focused and I mean you can probably attest this from this summer um but it it was more the fact that you're so like driven and focused and you're like it's like not robotic but you're just like in it and you're you're on like I don't know auto drive like you feel like you're just like so like you have the blinders on and you're just like looking forward and then when you win it like you get to celebrate with your friends and family and you get to be like human again you're not just like an athlete and I think that's the best part is like we're all humans and we all have like emotions and we all have like vulnerabilities and in sports a lot of times like you're so shut off from that like you're so disconnected from your emotions um from like the real world because you're so you're you're just like so driven so winning those um it just you you feel like you can be human and you can like celebrate and you can actually just like enjoy and be vulnerable and like smile like sometimes you don't smile for like weeks at a time and you just don't realize it until um you finally get to that end point and so I think just like being able to do that and just go down you know what was it Broadway or you know in New York and like celebrate with fans and actually just like be like a human and not like the athlete that everyone just is seen you as like this robotic thing um this like thing on this platform um like I'm just like a sister I'm a daughter I'm a friend um I'm not just like a teammate and an athlete and I think the special moments was like when we won we got to just be more than just the athlete I think that's a beautiful way to end it thank you Alex so much for everything we'll give her a round of applause and thank you all for joining us today we'll see many of you on Sunday big day