A legend has called it a career.
Alex Morgan will play her last professional game of soccer on Sunday, she announced Thursday in an emotional video on Instagram .
The 35-year-old forward, who also announced she's pregnant with her second child, has more than earned her right to retire.
Morgan's impact on the sport — and women's sports — goes beyond her two World Cup titles, two Olympic medals and her 123 goals for the United States, which is fifth all-time for the women's national team.
For her entire career, she has worked to elevate women's sports.
She was one of the loudest voices as the U.S. women's national team fought for equal pay. She helped former teammate Mana Shim bring to light incidents of abuse and sexual misconduct in the National Women's Soccer League, which led to the ushering in of a new era for the league. She co-founded TOGETHXR, a women's sports media and commerce company, to shine a brighter and bigger spotlight on female athletes dominating the world of sports.
On top of all of that, Morgan inspired an entire generation of young female soccer players and fans, including me.
Thirteen years ago, I sat on the edge of a bed at a Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, Washington, glued to the TV. When it came time to head down to the lodge's indoor waterpark, I begged my parents to let me stay and continue watching the U.S. women's World Cup match that was playing, instead of enjoying the water slides.
That summer, I had tuned into the FIFA women's World Cup for the first time. The U.S. women's national soccer team quickly won over my 11-year-old self. I had enjoyed the men's World Cup the year before, but not like this.
For the first time, I was finally seeing soccer players who looked like me, playing at the highest level of the sport I had played for years in my city's rec league. And there was one player who stood out the most, the youngest player on the team: 21-year-old Morgan (she turned 22 during the tournament).
One of the things about Morgan that I found so inspiring was that her soccer journey started later than most. She didn't join a youth club team until she was 14 — only seven years before playing in the World Cup — after previously being rejected from a club team the year before, proving it's never too late to chase your dreams.
Morgan ended up scoring in both the semifinal and final of the 2011 World Cup, cementing her future role as the face of the national team. Even after the U.S. fell to Japan in the final, I was all in on Morgan and the USWNT.
Morgan was my Caitlin Clark. Watching her made me dream of playing in the World Cup and the Olympics one day.
After that summer, for years, my birthday lists included anything Morgan-related: shirts, jerseys, books, magazines and posters. I would buy anything with her name or face on it, even Sharpies with her autograph printed on the markers.
I wrote her fan mail and knitted her a red, white and blue beanie. I dressed up as her for Halloween for years, wearing her jersey and a pink headband to match the signature pink prewrap headband she wore in every game.
I watched every USWNT Olympics and World Cup match and every friendly that I could from my couch, even during family gatherings. I dreamed of watching Morgan play in person.
Two years ago, I finally did.
Morgan and the national team stopped in Sandy, Utah, to play a friendly against Colombia . I convinced my best friend to drive the four hours with me from our university in Idaho, so I could check it off my bucket list.
And it was incredible. Morgan didn't score, but my childhood hero was playing right in front of me.
That moment was topped the following year and my love of Morgan and women's sports came full circle when the USWNT returned to Utah for another match against Colombia in October 2023.
Since checking off that bucket list item, I had been hired by the Deseret News, and as a young reporter, occasionally wrote about women's sports and athletes, including Morgan and the national team during the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup earlier that year.
I had the opportunity to cover that Utah game and attended the team's media availabilities and trainings in the week leading up to the game.
In one of those media availabilities, I had a pinch myself moment.
I stood right in front of my childhood hero, listening to her talk about her own full circle moment of returning to Utah, where she made her national team debut over a decade prior .
While she talked, she had no idea of the impact she had had on my life over the course of the last 12 years, and I wanted to thank her for that impact.
In order to keep it professional, I didn't. But I will now.
Thank you, Alex Morgan, for inspiring countless girls to chase their dreams, elevating women's soccer and leaving it better than you found it for the next generation.
