Olympic Magic with Briana Scurry 55:48

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I speak from experience, obviously, but sometimes the place you're in doesn't allow for that. For instance, you may have seen all these wild videos online about how ridiculously uncomfortable the cardboard beds are in the Olympic Village. It's not just a problem at the games, but anytime you're competing and traveling, playing soccer or any other sport, having a comfortable bed and a place to rest, relax, meditate and focus is really important.

It's pretty much the most important thing. And you just can't get that in a hotel. Staying in an Airbnb just makes more sense for those trips where you want to relax without the discomforts of a hotel. So excited.

We've got another Olympics episode for you. And, you know, we're just losing our minds over here. I am up at 630 in the morning Pacific time watching the women's rugby team, watching them then get the bronze medal, the swimming, the water polo, losing our minds over the gymnastics team and them winning their gold. And even the men, they won the bronze. Got to give it up for them.

It's just been Olympics, Olympics, Olympics everywhere in our household. And so today I feel it is very important. And I also want to mention the U S women's soccer team. We got through our group stage. We're playing Japan, August 3rd. You got to watch it. 9am Eastern 6am Pacific. Very excited for that game. It's a knockout round game. So if they lose, they go home, but I'm just so excited to have this guest on today because

She's got multiple gold medals. Love this person to death. We've been in the trenches together. I give you guys Brass Gray.

Brianna Scurry is one of the world's most talented and influential Olympians and goalkeepers. Named starting goalkeeper for the United States Women's National Team in 94, Scurry led the team on an illustrious run that included two Olympic gold medals. In the 99 FIFA World Cup Championship, Brianna made the iconic penalty kick save that carried the U.S. to victory.

She was selected to the United States Women's National Team's all-time best 11 and was selected as the permanent Title IX exhibit in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. In 2022, Scori released her best-selling memoir, My Greatest Save, beautiful book, and was also the subject of The Only, a CBS feature-length documentary chronicling your life. I've watched it twice. It's a religious experience. Watch it. Welcome.

Brianna Scurry. Hi! Finally! God, I love you. I watched your documentary. I just, oh, I cried three times. Three times! It's a bit of a tearjerker, isn't it? It's just like, god damn, you and that goal is like something, something.

Magical. I'm going to now turn this over to Abby. Hi, Bri. Hi, Abs. How are you? I'm so good. It's so good to have you on. You are and have always been somebody I looked up to in so many ways. The fiercest pod squad, and I'm telling you this, I have played with some fierce women in my life.

There is nobody that is as fierce and as competitive as Brianna Scurry was for me. Now, I want to start with when you were watching the Olympics on television. I think you were eight. Can you tell us a story about how you came to become an Olympian? What was the moment that you were watching on television? What did you write to yourself that ended up coming true one day?

Good one, Abs. Good one. So I was watching the 1980 Lake Placid ice hockey team for the 1980 Olympic Games with my mom and dad on the couch. And if you recall way back when they were playing the USSR, which is now obviously Russia. But back then, the USSR was the best team in the world.

And they had smashed our boys 10 to 3, two weeks before the Olympics game that they played against each other. And so I remember watching this and nobody gave them a chance to win except for themselves. They were the only ones that thought they could win. So I remember watching this game. And now people would say, well, Bri, you were eight. How do you even have an idea about what you're watching? But I feel like you know greatness when you see it.

And I felt it and saw it. And when Al Michaels was counting down three, two, one, do you believe in miracles? I jumped off the couch and I said, yes, I was like an Olympian. So that was the moment that I decided I wanted to be an Olympian. Thankfully for me,

My mom and dad were incredibly supportive. They didn't think it was silly. They didn't think it was absurd. They nurtured that seed. And a few years later, when I was in my early teens, I made a sign with your basic like printer paper, eight by 11 inches. And it said Olympics 1996. I have a dream.

And I made it very nice, very specific, very exact with my ruler and my pencil. And I put that sign on my wall. And I looked at it every morning when I woke up and every night before I went to bed. And sure enough, guess where I found myself in 1996? Now, Pod Squad, Brian. I have to give the Pod Squad a little bit of context here.

Women's soccer wasn't in the Olympics when you made this sign. Do you know, Bri, that when I was in eighth grade, I too doodled. Mine was more of a doodle in class because I wasn't paying attention. I too doodled. I will win an Olympic gold medal.

playing women's soccer. And this is all prior to women's soccer, even being given the chance to be in an Olympic games. Now it just so happens that in 1996 women's soccer was finally given their day in the sun being the, it was the first time they were allowed in the Olympics in 1996 happened to be in the United States of America played in Atlanta, Georgia,

Now, can you tell us the story of that 1996 Olympic team and why the team almost didn't go to those Olympic Games and how the equal pay fight started with that team? Absolutely. So in 1995, the year before was a Women's World Cup in Sweden, and there were literally like maybe a few hundred people there.

and whatnot, and we ended up getting third because we lost in the semifinal game. Going right from '95 to '96, we decided that we wanted at least an opportunity to make some money if we didn't win gold, if we won silver. And the Federation wasn't going to pay us unless we won the entire thing. Meanwhile, the men's team

had different bonus structures for gold, silver, bronze, and whatnot. So we basically said we weren't going to play unless we got a deal for that silver medal. And they said, no way. So we essentially went on strike. So here I am the starting goalkeeper on the team at that point, obviously we knew we were going to be in Olympics and I'm on the cusp of

of achieving my dream, of realizing my dream, and we're going on strike, which could completely jeopardize the whole deal. And we're basically calling U.S. soccer's bluff.

What was that like? What were the conversations between the players? And I know that there had to have been a ton of like, how did you guys come to this decision that you were going to now compromise possibly your chance at playing in an Olympic games for the first time ever for our country? And maybe your whole sports because it's the first time it's in the Olympics. Yep. Absolutely. Absolutely. So we figured we had some leverage because the Olympics were coming up and we were favored to win.

And if we didn't show up, that U.S. soccer would get a lot of pressure on them. And we figured we had something in hand at this point that we didn't have before. And it just was completely absurd that the men who haven't even come anywhere near winning

any Olympics or World Cup at that point, anytime in recent memory, we're going to have these bonus structures that we didn't have. And so there were all these discrepancies between us and we figured now we have some, some leverage. And so we got on a phone tree, like, so we had like four or five people in the leadership and they had a, you know, signatures on a piece of paper and these players, they were supposed to call and say, this is what we're thinking about doing.

And we had these conversations about it and we were all a little bit like worried about it, but we knew it was the right thing to do. And it was for the greater good. And so we put it on the line, especially the starting 11.

at that time, which I was one of. And so we had all these conversations around it. And Julie Foudy, as you probably know, was very instrumental. She had talked to Billie Jean King about this. And, you know, we decided that we had to go through it together, unified. And if Federation couldn't break our unity, then we would be able to use that leverage and get some of what we wanted. Okay. So here we are then. You find yourselves...

Coming through, getting a contract with U.S. soccer, though it wasn't great by any means, you still got enough to be able to go to the Olympic Games and represent the country and play. What happens at the Olympics? And I want you to tell the pod squad about your personal celebration or the bet that you made if you were to win gold. So...

We settled all this business with the Federation. And then we were now on fair terms and we were training for the Olympic games. And once you make the Olympic team, there's a big announcement. And at that point in time, you all of a sudden find yourself with a bunch of different media outlets calling you and asking you for interviews. And they want to quote, they want to know the athletes. They want to know if you have dogs, if you have cats, like what's the composition of Team USAX?

So Sports Illustrated reached out to me and asked me a few questions. One of them was, do I have any tattoos? Which I do. I have one on my left shoulder. And then also, what would I do if I won gold? And out of the blue, I said, I'll run naked. Streak is a streak. Yes.

And then they come out with this big two page expose in Sports Illustrated. And my quote is in there. So now it's immortalized. And I am quoted as saying, I will run naked if we win gold. So now everyone's really cheering. Yes. If you weren't a fan before, you're really invested now.

Absolutely. And I'm a woman of my word, you know, abs. You are. You are. And so you all went and you succeeded in winning gold. Tell us about that. How did that happen? Yeah. So we go there and I have to say that experience was just the most amazing thing ever.

My mom and dad didn't really see me play a whole lot in college. And so now that we were going to be in the Atlanta Olympics, they were in attendance. And so my mom and dad got to see me play and thank goodness they were there because as you also know, not a single minute of the game was, was live on NBC. That's right. Everything was just clips and whatnot. And so, um,

76,000 fans were at the Olympic final for women's soccer. And so it was absolutely amazing. I saw all these people that I knew in the stands, but leading up to that in the semifinal game, as you know, there's a mixed zone after the game and I'm going through the mixed zone after we win and the SI guys are there and they're like, right. Are you going to run? Are you going to do it? Are you going to run?

I said, yeah. I said, I'm going to do it, guys. I got to win the thing. We got to win the thing first. Right. So, you know, just don't don't worry about it. We'll we'll get it. And I said, I didn't say you could film it, though. Right. Yeah. All of a sudden you want to put something on TV. You're not. I said, you can't film it. But I said, let me tell you what. Here's what I'll do. If we win, I will film it myself.

And then I will have people, a couple of people look at it to verify that in fact it did happen. And so that's what I ended up doing. Amazing. So you guys win gold. And I remember this because I was 16 years old at an ODP soccer regional camp.

And so I remember how, you know, nowadays the women's soccer games are played in full, but back in the day, women's soccer, much like many other of kind of the obscure quote unquote sports by popular standards, you get clips of it. So we were sitting there watching like the embassy coverage and

And then every, I don't know, 20 minutes, they would give like a highlight, an update of what's going on. And then I think that this was the game where Joy scores the goal. Like Mackie scored, Shannon McMillan and Joy Fawcett scored in the final, right? Against China. Mack scored and Millie scored. Millie scored.

Yeah. Did Joy head? What was there was a head on the corner? Maybe this is it. I don't know. I'm losing my mind. Yeah, that that was that was the game against Germany. That's right. Before that, the header, the header, the corner header. Yeah. Yeah. OK, so I'm watching this. And then all of a sudden we're at a college and all of a sudden it cuts now to you guys winning. And at 16 years old, all of us from Region one ODP were sitting there watching this game. It

It's like cementing what we're literally doing day in and day out, that there is a purpose, that there is a path. And it's just like, it was so, it was just so fantastic. And it was in the United States and there was 70,000 people watching and you won. So is it true though, that you did in fact streak through the streets?

I did. She streaked. She did it. Okay, let me give you context about my streak. So as you know, there's tabloids out there and the tabloid said that I streaked through the city of Atlanta, you know, a full city block and all these people saw me. Not true. Not true. It was on a side street in a quiet neighborhood at three in the morning. Okay.

And my girlfriend at the time had a video camera and I was in a towel and I was doing some commentary about what I was about to do. And I took off my towel and I had my medal around my neck and I ran about 30 yards out and then I ran 30 yards back and she videotaped it. Amazing.

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Brian, what was it like being the only open...

Gay person on the women's national team like before it was the cool thing to be an openly gay woman on the national team just give us some context. I mean, I was way before you do it and then you anyway, what was it like.

It was truly amazing and interesting, let me tell you, because my teammates were always so open, willing, accepting, and I didn't hide it.

I didn't. I was gay and this is me. And, you know, if you think I'm in your face, then I guess I am in your face, but I'm not going to hide who I am just because I'm on this stage and this platform. I am a gay woman and this is who I am. And so it was really interesting for me because I was just being me, but apparently from the outside looking in,

The media at the time had a little more than a little bit of trouble with it. And I found out, in fact, later on that part of the reason why I maybe didn't get as many accolades or as much endorsement or sponsorship or recognition in part was either because initially I thought it was because I was a goalkeeper.

But I found out later that it was either because I was openly gay or because of being a player of color. And so for me doing it, I was just being myself. And it was I was blazing this trail for others. And I really didn't think anything of it. I wasn't going to hide who I was. And so I just was being myself. And apparently that's.

Other people had issue with it, but not anybody on my team. That's for sure. And blaze the trail you did. I was also a gay person on the team. And I remember when I first got on the team in 2001, I remember looking around and just because, you know, the way we think of the 96 and the 99 Women's World Cup team is this uber white, uber straight, ponytailed,

marketable team. And here you are just standing in your glory. I mean, the thing that I loved so much about you and still love about you is just how unapologetic you are and have always been.

And I think I learned so much from you, Bri, because of that sureness you have always had in yourself. It gave me confidence. And also, by the way, I was really scared to publicly come out for many years. I mean, I didn't publicly come out until I was 2013.

Because I was scared about the endorsements that I would miss out on. And that was such a big part of our secondary income to be able to supplement our salaries. So I just think that you were such a huge trailblazer

For me personally, for obviously to for many of the women that came behind me, like Megan Rapinoe, she doesn't have the career she has. If it's not for a woman like you who stands in herself, in her skin, you are really, you know, such a big reason why both Megan and I were able to be kind of the faces of the LGBTQ movement in women's sports out and proud. So I give you so much credit. I want to switch gears a little bit and talk about 1999.

I want you to tell us a little bit about the state of women's sports and soccer in our country. How did the team do the marketing campaign prior to the '99 Women's World Cup? What was the original plan? What did it go to? And then also tell us about the first bus ride to the first game of the Women's World Cup in 1999. Good stuff. Good stuff, Abby.

Let me take you back to the original plan first. So a Women's World Cup, which normally you think of World Cups, it's going to be the entire country that it's hosting it. They were only going to have, they meaning the FIFA federations and FIFA, were only going to have the Women's World Cup in the United States regionally. It was only going to be on the East Coast and probably New England area, maybe no further south than D.C., I would say.

And Marla Messing came in, who she was the head of the Women's World Cup Organizing Committee.

And she basically made a huge decision along with us that we agreed that it was going to be in big stadiums instead. And she fought against the idea of having it be regional, that this should actually be national because that is what it is. So that was the first thing. So it was going to go from five to 10,000 C stadiums to the football stadiums, Soldier Field, Rose Bowl, you know, all over the place, RFK and all that. So, yeah.

That happened. And then for two years before the World Cup, so essentially 97, 98, all of the players on the women's national team that were potentially going to be in that player pool were tasked with selling it.

So now it's like, okay, now you have what you wanted. So now you're going to sell these tickets. So for two years, we got paid $200 every pay period. I think if I'm not mistaken, $200 every pay period to essentially barnstorm all over the country and meet with all these different clubs and

throughout the country. So every so often a couple of us would go to, say, Virginia and then we would go to Florida and then a couple of us would go to the Midwest and then we go to the South and then also to the West Coast. And we would literally sell ourselves to these clubs to get them to buy tickets. We did that for two years straight.

So that leads us up until about a month or so before the world cup is going to start. So Aaron Heifetz, who was our media manager at the time and still is, incidentally is still going. It's hilarious. It's awesome to see him though. So yeah,

He says to us, you know, we've sold like hundreds of thousands of tickets and it's going to be really great. And it looks like there's going to be a really good crowd at the opener. So we're fired up. We're thrilled. We're excited. So we, you know, we're still training and whatnot. So we basically switch off of the promotional piece and then switch to the play piece. Like, okay, now we sold this thing. Now we got to win it, right? Like what's the point if we don't win? So we focus on that. So our first game is at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.

So we drive to the stadium and normally the players have to be in the vicinity of the stadium 90 minutes before the game starts. So it's really early compared to when the fans get there. So we drive there and we're being escorted, I say, by maybe four police cars and maybe two motorcycle cops, something like that. It's a small number of escorts.

We're driving on the shoulder because if you've ever been in the Meadowlands, there's more than one stadium out there. There's a couple of stadiums. There's an ice hockey rink. There's other stuff going on. And it's so traffic-y, like it's tons of traffic. And we're like, oh my gosh, we're going to be late to our own, you know, ball. Like we're going to be late to our own game. And we're nervous and we're upset. And sure enough, we're looking at all these cars and we're like, who would schedule something the exact same time as our game?

And we're like talking to each other about this. And then we look out the window and we're like, huh? USA, go USA. You know, written in paint, blue paint on the windows. We're like looking in the cars. It's like these little young girls with the pigtails and their face painted and all this. And we're like, oh my gosh, this crowd is for our game. They were tailgating. And I kid you not, we had no idea.

that people would show up to our game as early as we were showing up and tailgate. We pulled in to the area where the stadium driveway is. And we see all these cars and all these young girls with their pigtails juggling the ball, playing soccer, you know, grilling out like they do in NFL football game parking lots. And we were like, holy crap, we've arrived. This is really happening. We were giddy. We were like,

waving out the door, out the window, taking pictures of them. They were taking pictures of us. And it was just like this frenzy of excitement. And we were so happy because we realized that that minute that we had done the thing we had been working towards doing for two years. And in fact, they did show up for us. And now we were like, okay, we got to pull it together and we got to actually go out and play.

And we played Denmark that game. And I tell you something, Ab, and I know you've experienced this before, but coming out of the tunnel onto the pitch, when you're under the tunnel, you hear all this noise, you know, people talking, blah, blah, blah. And it's all scrambled. But when the two teams come out of the tunnel, all of a sudden, all eyes on you.

And that sound that's all over the place essentially comes together. And it's almost like a thunder's clap and people are cheering and all these cameras are snapping back then, you know, they actually had flash and all that and everybody's cheering for us. And it was so emotional. I kid you not. We are all like crying as we're walking out to play this game because we had done it.

We had done it. I mean, are you okay? Yeah, I just feel like if Bri doesn't want to play soccer ever again, Bri should just be a storyteller. That was incredible. That was incredible. All right. So here we are. We're going through the 1999 Women's World Cup. You guys are playing really well. And you find yourself in the final against China. You were in goal. What happens at the end of that game? Ha!

And I want you to, I want you to take, I want you to take us through the blow by blow of your specific save. Right. You should know that Abby has made me watch this maybe 600 times. I know every move you make. So go ahead. I'm nervous right now, even though I know it happened like 25 years ago and I know what happened, but I'm still nervous. Like it's going to come out different. Yeah.

Isn't that a beautiful thing that it never changes? I love that part. Yes, me too. So we battle. And let me tell you something really quick, though. We were a little nervous about playing China. And here's why. Because they had absolutely thrashed Norway in the semifinal game. And we had a real hard time with Brazil in our semifinal. We were completely flat. You were.

were ridiculous in the game against Brazil. You stood on your head. It was crazy. Absolutely. I was spinning around. Yes, it was crazy. Like Jim Craig from the 1980 Lake Placid Ice. Yeah. That's what I was like the Matrix. I was just, you know, doing all these things. I had

Normally you have one or two brilliant saves that you have to make in an emergency situation. It was the emergency for 90 minutes. I made, I don't know how many saves. And so we were a little nervous about the flatness, but we figured we had five days to recover. So we would be fine. So we go into the game and the game before us was a third place game. No kidding. They went to penalty kicks. So they didn't give us any time to warm up on the pitch. Yeah.

Zero. Where did you warm up? In the bowels of the rules bowl on the concrete. Oh my God.

On the concrete, you guys. No warm-up on the pitch at all. So immediately from the concrete to the pitch, we play this game. It's a chess match. It's a battle. Michelle Akers, I'm sure you remember, Abby, just owned that midfield. Like, she was just diving and sliding and, you know, every tackle and every ball, winning all these headers and whatnot. And then towards the end of the game, it was 0-0, very much in the 18-18. And I come out for a ball, and I punch Michelle Akers in the head. Yeah.

I got some of the ball, but I got mostly her and she's knocked out of the game. And then we go to the overtime and China just swarms us. It felt like 14 versus 10 is what it felt like to me. And they were just coming after us because that void was there from me knocking Michelle out of the game. And they just were, they were licking their chops thinking it was their opportunity.

Christine Lilly makes a save off the line from a ball that was by me. Thank God for Christine Lilly. Thank God for Christine Lilly. And mind you, golden goal back then. No playing the entire overtime. Had that ball gone in, we wouldn't be talking. Thank goodness it didn't. Lil saved it. And right then, Abby, I knew we were going to win as soon as Lil saved that ball. So we go on to the PKs and I'm thinking to myself, okay,

This is where I earn my spot. And pod squad, if you don't know, penalty kicks is what PKs are. And it's the thing that happens after overtime and soccer games that determines who wins. It's a spot kick. And please just do yourself a favor. And if you have not seen this moment, go back to this moment and turn on a YouTube video or whatever and just watch Brianna play.

Watch her eyes. Just look at her eyeballs. And just this is what determination and fierceness. And if I had to stand opposite you taking a penalty, I would have been so scared. Your whole being knew. Go on. Tell the story. I knew. Okay. So we're going, you know, one, one and one. So we train this. I don't look at my teammates kick. So if you watch a PK shootout, their team is

is going if they're kicking and I'm in the goal. But when my team is kicking, the other goalkeeper oftentimes watches their own team kick. I don't have that MO. I don't watch. Why? Because that is not my job. My job is to save one. Their job is to make one.

So I'm not watching. I listen to the crowd noise. That's how I know if it goes well. But I had complete confidence that they would make their kicks. So I knew I had to save one. Normally, when I go into the goal, I don't look at the kicker approaching. I'm just focusing on what I want to do. First kicker goes, I don't save it. Their second kicker goes, I don't save it. As I'm walking into the goal for the third kicker, something in my mind said, look.

So I looked at her as she was walking to the penalty spot and I knew I was going to save that one. I knew it. I knew it. I said, this is it to myself. And I walk in there and that's what Abby was talking about. You see in me this look that I had on my face and this confidence because I knew I was going to save this one. And sure enough, I get set in the goal and I pace like a cat before I get set.

Because I'm just getting my energy focused like a laser so I can spring. And so I'm in the goal and I'm waiting and she approaches and I see it all slow motion. I see her hips open up. I see her hit with the side of her foot. And I am literally off the line, as you can tell, about two or three yards.

And I spring to my left and I make this save. And all in one motion, I spring, I save it, I land, I roll up. And I'm just like, ah, because that was the one. And sure enough, just so you know, a lot of people don't know this. I tore some of the muscle off my hip bone, off my hip, making that save. I did not know that.

Yeah, I tore some of the muscle off my hip. What is it like? Worth it. What is it like when you make that save and 90,000 plus people in the Rose Bowl are cheering? What is happening in your body? There's this picture in the Smithsonian of what, right when I rolled up and you see me just like let out this yell. I basically roared essentially. Yeah. Because that was all the effort, the time,

And the energy that I had in my body just exploded out of me. And sure enough, that's what the sound sounded like. Like the fans cheering because they're all holding their collective breath, literally like, like waiting, sitting on the edge of their seat and it explodes. And then you hear JP, who's the announcer, save Scurry, save Scurry, save Scurry. And we all just went nuts. Yeah, absolutely nuts. I'm just like, yeah, I'm stomping around. And I'm like,

pumping my fists. And I was just like, I knew that was it. That was the one. It feels like that was the answer to you at eight years old being like, do you believe in miracles? Like, and you said, yes, I believe in miracles. And the universe was like, all right,

We're going to give you one. You get to live it then. Yes. Absolutely. That's absolutely right. So this save, a lot of people, when they think about 1999, they remember when Brandi rips her jersey off. But what people really don't know is that that kick is insignificant had you not made this save. And so I would like to know,

Because the celebration for the team, Brandi makes the penalty, rips her shirt off. You guys win the World Cup. And the celebration for that team afterwards was massive worldwide. You were on the cover of everything. Sports Illustrated, every front page of every newspaper. And P.S., this had never happened before to be getting so much media attention. And a lot of people noticed that you, Bri, didn't get as much attention as your white teammates got.

Can you talk about that for us? I can, I can. And it's interesting question, Abs, because I didn't really understand what was happening. And so it first began when I went into the media tent to do interviews after the game. And all the reporters wanted to ask me about was whether or not I came off the line or not. Like they didn't want to ask me about

the fact that I made the save. They didn't want to ask me about, you know, pitching the shutout for the entire game up until that point. They wanted to ask me if I thought I cheated coming off the line. And I said, well, the referee was standing right there and the referee makes these decisions and they never warned me or said anything about it. So here we are. And so I

That is when it first began. And then I remember doing a few events after that. And, you know, I was just thrilled. And I stayed in Pasadena for a couple of days, ended up doing like Letterman and Rosie O'Donnell and Jay Leno and that. And Rosie O'Donnell actually said to me, I have a gift for you because I feel like you didn't get the accolades and you didn't get the attention you deserve for making that penalty kick safe.

And I remember sitting there on stage with her and I thought to myself, huh. And I didn't want to be the angry black woman, you know? And I was like, oh, well, you know, and I almost like was making excuses for the fact that I wasn't getting what I had felt I deserved and I had earned. And I didn't want it to be about my color. And I didn't want it to be about my sexual orientation.

But I thought it was about being a goalkeeper. You know, goalkeepers just don't get the credit we deserve. And it wasn't until like years later when I thought back on it, I'm like, it was my color and it probably was my sexual orientation. And I was so bummed when I came to that realization because I had always marched forward with absolute just determination and abandoned with what I wanted to achieve.

and never let anything stop me. And it didn't. But what was interesting was how other people perceived me on the outside, the media, like you were saying, endorsers, sponsors, seeing me in a way that they didn't. I was just before my time. That wasn't appealing and popular at the time.

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We know talent. Visit roberthaff.com today. As this airs, we will be in the midst of the Olympic Games. And I want to know kind of what should we still be watching for with the way that the world responds to white women athletes versus the way the world responds to black women athletes? Ooh, so I would say it's interesting because...

For example, the sport of gymnastics was very similar to soccer in essence, that it's suburban white for the most part for the longest time until Dominique Dawes and Gabby and then Simone came along and essentially completely changed the game by doing things no one else could do, period. She's got moves named after her. And so for...

those athletes, it'll be somewhat even in terms of coverage and accolades and the way announcers speak of them. For soccer, it'll be also very interesting because now, as you know, Abs, our entire front line are players of color. And the goal scorers will probably be either Mal or Tren or...

So, you know, or Jalen Shaw, you know, Crystal or yeah, or Shaw or, you know, somebody who's of color and you better be as kind with your words as you would be if it was Alex Morgan scoring. That's right. You know, you better and watch yourself because people are listening to that kind of stuff. And so I think it's going to be a lot better.

Also for basketball, because of how much attention basketball is getting nowadays for women, which is fantastic. So I think the Olympics now are different in that regard.

But the only way to really know would be if you could know how much money the athletes were getting paid. That's good. And the discrepancy between players of color versus white players. That would be something to see because that would tell you everything you needed to know if you could know that information. That's a good question. I would like to know how you feel, too, about our full women's team essentially being

The most diverse women's national team we've ever seen. Essentially almost half women of color are participating either in the actual 18 or as alternates. And also, how do you feel about the team in general? Yeah. Yes. I have to say, and I'm a little humbled by this, I'd like to think that I had something to do with that. Of course you did. You think? Of course you did. Would you like to think that, Bri? No.

Way to marry the lead, people. Of course. I have a little modesty. But yeah, I mean, the representation piece cannot be understated because...

The entire frontline, like I said, are players of color in a sport that's predominantly white. Either you are geographically positioned well in the suburbs and get all the opportunity to play soccer and you have funding because your parents make money and are able to pay or you don't. Or maybe you get scholarship and get sponsored in like kind of like I did. Basically, my coach paid for everything for me. I found this out later in my life.

And my parents didn't pay. No way. Right? So that's what it is like for soccer. And so now you're going to see a team that is really young, a team that has got some swagger, but has to back it up now on the pitch. And Emma, as a new coach, having to herd all these players together and get them to play in a way that

is exceptional and will beat a Spain or an England or a Germany and Australia for that matter. And so I think it's going to be probably the most intriguing Olympics for women's soccer I've ever seen. Since you broke your leg, Abby, I think, because I didn't have high hopes for that team after you broke your leg, but they somehow figured it out. Yeah. I'm thinking back to the little Brianna who wrote that.

11 by eight or nine, whatever the dimensions are, that you would win a gold medal one day. To me, yes, you have two real Olympic gold medals. But to me, the real gold medal is the path and what you lay brick by brick for this team to look like it looks now. I think that that to me is the real gold medal that I hope you feel that

And, you know, watching your documentary and watching Jasmine and some of these black women who are currently playing that looked up to you, that saw themselves in you and said, I want to do that, too. Like, to me, that's the real gold medal that you will always have forevermore.

And even though it's not necessarily up on your walls, it's something that I just, I want like it to be an honor that I hope you take with you. Cause it is true. When I look at this team, I see Brianna Scurry. When I look at this team, I think, look at what Bri built, look at what she did. And you did it in such a way that, and it was a different time. We, we lived in a different time in the late nineties and the early two thousands. And I'm just,

I am so fucking proud to have been your teammate and to have been able to learn from you. You were always so solid and strong and deeply committed and competitive. I love talking shit with you when we would practice. I believe deeply that one of the reasons why I was so good is because you were. You were fucking so hard to score on.

You were so hard to score on and you had to make me be better and to be more precise and to be strong. And you, I don't know, I just think you are one of the true leaders, a woman who I looked up to in my queerness that gave me permission eventually when I got strong enough to be out and to be proud.

I don't know. You're such a champion. You're forever an Olympian, but to me, you're always going to be like such a champion in everything that you do. That means so much to me. And let me just say, I've had so much success and my medals are absolutely symbols of everything that I've been through and everyone that's ever supported me and cared about me and gave me their time and their effort and their confidence.

And I do feel that. I do feel like I was out there getting that road ready for the people that were going to run on it behind me. And it does mean a lot to me. I see that and I have this little smile on my face when I watch the team play. And just like I had the smile on my face in 2019 and 2015, I

When I saw how many gay players were out on the team, I'm like, you know what? I know I had something to do with that. Yeah. And I know I have something to do with this. And it truly is the greatest honor of all of this time that I spent on the pitch, just trying to stop that little ball from going in that big goal. I mean, after all is said and done, it's there's so much more that I've been able to accomplish. And I feel like I've lived a very,

well-lived life with purpose. And my impact is going to be felt for generations after I'm gone. And I know that, and I do appreciate that so much. Absolutely. I just need to know what kind of person, what is it about you that decided I'm going to be the person at the end of the line that like, I got it.

Don't understand. Last line of defense. Goalkeeper has the most pressure. They have to be perfect. Nothing can go beyond them. Otherwise, your team gets scored on. It's the opposite of the vibe of like our daughter plays soccer and how people, some kids, not our kid. I'm not saying that. I noticed the vibe of like the kids who the second they get the ball, they're like, get the fuck away from me.

Right. Just like, no, thank you. No, thank you. I understand that energy, your energy of I've got this. I want to be the last line of defense. I felt so emotional watching it. I've watched your documentary twice, but I rewatched it yesterday. And all I could think of was, holy shit, Kamala Harris is Brianna.

Brianna, last line of defense. She's the only thing in standing in the fucking goal. It's fascism versus comma. Like what is it about you that decides I've got this? And how does that transfer to your, your life now? So for the longest time, I've always felt like I was put on this earth to be creation and inspiration.

And by doing certain things, I was going to create and inspire not only myself, but other people. And I can't really explain how I've always known that about myself. I would say that I was fortunate in the fact that my mom and dad raised me in a certain way that I could do anything I set my mind to and I believed them. My dad always said, be first.

They always told me to, you know, get up and dust yourself off and go again. Like I'm very literal. And so when my mom says I can do anything, I set my mind to, I believed her. And so to this day, my heart is my mom and my mind is my dad. And I have this determination and this drive that when I sink my teeth into something, I'm taking it.

to the nth degree, way beyond the possibility that other people think you can take it to. Because that's what I'm supposed to do. I am just here to be inspiration and creation. And so when people see me do things, they are inspired by it. And I just know that I've always been that way. And that's not to say though, Lennon, that I don't fall on my face because as you know, in the doc, I do. But

I've always felt I had purpose to do something wonderful and great. And it comes in different iterations. And now it's to make an impact in a way that I made an impact in my first 40 years of my life to make an impact in the next 40 years of my life, but just in a different way than playing soccer. And that's just who I am. That's my spirit. That's who I am. Yeah, it is. Brianna Scurry.

The one that laid the path, that wrote the note about being a gold medal winner one day in her future, and she accomplishes it.

And now has children. She's also a bonus mom, just like me. We have that in common, which is probably the truest and best gold medal attempt you will ever go after in your life. I know that that's true for me. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being such a role model to me and to so many other people watching, kids, adults, y'all.

Go get Bri's book. It's fucking good. Yes. And watch the doc. Watch the doc. You will cry. You will cheer. You will. It's a religious experience is what it is. Yeah. Thank you for being here. We love you so much. Thank you, Bri. Pod squad. We'll see you next time.

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We Can Do Hard Things is created and hosted by Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle in partnership with Odyssey. Our executive producer is Jenna Wise-Berman, and the show is produced by Lauren LaGrasso, Alison Schott, Dina Kleiner, and Bill Schultz. ♪