Olympic Magic with Briana Scurry
August 1, 2024
Amanda Doyle:
Briana 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, Briana made the iconic penalty kick save that carried the US 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, Scurry 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, Briana Scurry.
Briana Scurry:
Hi.
Amanda Doyle:
Finally. God, I love you. I watched your documentary. I just, oh, I cried three times. Three times.
Briana Scurry:
It’s a bit of a tear-jerker, isn’t it?
Amanda Doyle:
It’s just like, “God, damn.” You and that goal is like, something magical. I’m going to now turn this over to Abby.
Abby Wambach:
Hi, Bri.
Briana Scurry:
Hi, Abs, how are you?
Abby Wambach:
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 Briana 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?
Briana Scurry:
Whew, good one, Abs. Good one. I was watching the 1980 Lake Placid ice hockey team for the 1980 Olympic Games with my mom and dad on the couch. 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. They had smashed our boys 10 to three, two weeks before the Olympics game that they played against each other.
I remember watching this, and nobody gave them a chance to win except for themselves. They were the only ones that thought that they could win. 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?” I feel like, you know greatness when you see it. I felt it and saw it. When Al Michaels was counting down, “Three, two, one, do you believe in miracles?” I jumped off the couch and I said, “Yes, I believe in miracles!”
I was like, “I want to be an Olympian!” 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. A few years later, when I was in my early teens, I made a sign with your basic printer paper, eight by 11 inches, and it said, “Olympics 1996, I have a dream.” I made it very nice, very specific, very exact, with my ruler and my pencil.
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. Sure enough, guess where I found myself in 1996?
Abby Wambach:
Now, Pod Squad, Bri, Bri-
Briana Scurry:
Whoa.
Abby Wambach:
… 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.” This is all prior to women’s soccer even being given the chance to be in Olympic Games.
Now, it just so happens that in 1996, women’s soccer was finally given their day in the sun. 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?
Briana Scurry:
Absolutely. In 1995, the year before, was a Women’s World Cup in Sweden, and there were literally maybe a few hundred people there and whatnot. 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. 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. We basically said we weren’t going to play unless we got a deal for that silver medal. They said, “No way.” We essentially went on strike. 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 achieving my dream, of realizing my dream, and we’re going on strike, which could completely jeopardize the whole deal. We’re basically calling US Soccer’s bluff.
Abby Wambach:
What was that like? What were the conversations between the players? I know that there had to have been a ton of… 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?
Amanda Doyle:
And maybe our whole sports, because it’s the first time it’s in the Olympics.
Abby Wambach:
Yep.
Briana Scurry:
Absolutely. Absolutely. 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 US soccer would get a lot of pressure on them. We figured we had something in hand at this point that we didn’t have before. It just was completely absurd that the men who haven’t even come anywhere near winning any Olympics or World Cup at that point, any time in a recent memory, were going to have these bonus structures that we didn’t have.
There were all these discrepancies between us, and we figured now we have some leverages. We got on a phone tree, so we had four or five people in the leadership, and they had signatures on a piece of paper. These players, they were supposed to call and say, “This is what we’re thinking about doing.” We had these conversations about it. We were all a little bit worried about it, but we knew it was the right thing to do, and it was for the greater good.
We put it all on the line, especially the starting 11 at that time, which I was one of. We had all these conversations around it, and Julie Foudy, as you probably know, Abs, was very instrumental. She had talked to Billie Jean King about this, and we decided that we had to go through it together, unified. If Federation couldn’t break our unity, then we would be able to use that leverage and get some of what we wanted.
Abby Wambach:
Okay, so here we are, then. You find yourselves coming through, getting a contract with US Soccer. Though it wasn’t great by any means, you still got 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?
Briana Scurry:
We settled all this business with the Federation, and then we were now on fair terms, and we were training for the Olympic Games. Once you make the Olympic team, there’s a big announcement. 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 a quote, and they want to know the athletes, they want to know if you have dogs, if you have cats, what’s the composition of Team USA?
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. Then also, what would I do if I won gold? Out of the blue, I said, “I’ll run naked.”
Abby Wambach:
Streak of the street.
Briana Scurry:
Then they come out with this big, two-page expose in Sports Illustrated, and my quote-
Amanda Doyle:
No.
Briana Scurry:
… Is in there. Now, it’s immortalized. I am quoted as saying, “I will run naked if we win gold.”
Amanda Doyle:
Now, everyone’s really cheering at this point.
Briana Scurry:
Yes.
Amanda Doyle:
If you weren’t a fan before, you’re really invested now.
Briana Scurry:
Absolutely, and I’m a woman of my word, Abs.
Abby Wambach:
You are, you are. You all went and you succeeded in winning gold.
Amanda Doyle:
Tell us about that. How did that happen?
Abby Wambach:
Yeah.
Briana Scurry:
We go there, and I have to say, that experience was just the most amazing thing. My mom and dad didn’t really see me play a whole lot in college. Now that we were going to be in the Atlanta Olympics, they were in attendance. 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 live on NBC.
Abby Wambach:
That’s right.
Briana Scurry:
Everything was just clips and whatnot. 76,000 fans were at the Olympic final for women’s soccer. It was absolutely amazing. I saw all these people that I knew in the stands. 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.
They’re like, “Bri, 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 thing first, so just don’t worry about it, we’ll get it.” I said, “I didn’t say you could film it though, right?”
Amanda Doyle:
Exactly. Yeah. All of a sudden, you want to put something on TV? [inaudible 00:12:07]?
Briana Scurry:
[inaudible 00:12:08] right. 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 a couple people look at it to verify that, in fact, it did happen.” That’s what I ended up doing.Amanda Doyle:
Amazing.
Abby Wambach:
You guys win gold, and I remember this, because I was 16 years old, at an ODP Soccer Regional Camp. I remember how nowadays, the women’s soccer games are played in full, but back in the day, women’s soccer, much like many other of the “obscure” sports by popular standards, you get clips of it.
We were sitting there, watching the NBC coverage, and then every, I don’t know, 20 minutes, they would give a highlight, an update of what’s going on. Then I think that this was the game where Joy scores the goal, like Mackie scored, Shannon MacMillan, and Joy Fawcett scored in the final right against China?
Briana Scurry:
Mack scored and Millie scored.
Abby Wambach:
Millie scored.
Briana Scurry:
Yeah.
Abby Wambach:
Did Joy head? There was a head on the corner, maybe this is it, I don’t know. I’m losing my mind.
Briana Scurry:
Yeah, that was the game against Germany.
Abby Wambach:
That’s right.
Briana Scurry:
Before that.
Abby Wambach:
The header, the header, the corner header. Yeah, yeah. Okay. 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. At 16 years old, all of us from region one ODP, we’re sitting there, watching this game. It’s like, cementing what we’re literally doing day in and day out, that there is a purpose, that there is a path.
It’s just like, it was just so fantastic, and it was in the United States, and there was 70,000 people watching, and you won. Is it true, though, that you did in fact streak through the streets?
Briana Scurry:
I did.
Abby Wambach:
She streaked. She did it.
Amanda Doyle:
[inaudible 00:14:14].Briana Scurry:
Okay, let me give you context about my streak. As you know, there’s tabloids out there, and the tabloids said that I streaked through the city of Atlanta, 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, and my girlfriend at the time had a video camera, and I was in a towel.
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.
Abby Wambach:
Amazing.
Amanda Doyle:
Bri, what was it like being the only open gay person on the women’s national team before it was the cool thing to be an openly gay woman on the national team? Just give us some context. Bri, it was way before you do it and then you… Anyway. What was it like?
Briana Scurry:
It was truly amazing and interesting, let me tell you. My teammates were always so open, willing, accepting, and I didn’t hide it. I didn’t. I was gay, and this is me. 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’m a gay woman, and this is who I am. 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 more than a little bit of trouble with it.
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. For me, doing it, I was just being myself. 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. Apparently, other people had issue with it, but not anybody on my team, that’s for sure.
Abby Wambach:
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 because the way we think of the ’96 and the ’99 Women’s World Cup team is this uber white, uber straight, pony tailed, marketable team. Here you are, just standing in your glory.
The thing that I loved so much about you, and still love about you, is just how unapologetic you are and have always been. I think I learned so much from you, Bri, because of that suredness you have always had in yourself. It gave me confidence. Also, by the way, I was really scared to publicly come out for many years. I didn’t publicly come out until it was 2013. 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.
I just think that you were such a huge trailblazer for me personally, obviously, 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 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. 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? Then also, tell us about the first bus ride to the first game of the Women’s World Cup in 1999.
Briana Scurry:
Good stuff, good stuff, Abby. Let me take you back to the original plan first. 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, the 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-y area, maybe no further south than DC, I would say.
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. She fought against the idea of having it be regional, that this should actually be national, because that is what it is. That was the first thing. It was going to go from five to 10,000-seat stadiums to the football stadiums, Soldier Field, Rose Bowl, all over the place, RFK, and all that.
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. Now, it’s like, “okay, now you have what you wanted, so now you got to sell these tickets.” 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 throughout the country.
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’d 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. That leads us up until about a month or so before the World Cup was going to start. Aaron Heifetz, who was our media manager at the time, and-
Abby Wambach:
Still is.
Briana Scurry:
… Incidentally, is still-
Abby Wambach:
Still is. Still kicking.
Briana Scurry:
… Is still the media manager for the team.
Abby Wambach:
Heif is still going, four years later.
Briana Scurry:
Heif is still going, man. It’s hilarious. It’s awesome to see him, though. He says to us, “We’ve sold 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.” We’re fired up, we’re thrilled, we’re excited. We’re still training and whatnot. 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. What’s the point if we don’t win?” We focus on that. Our first game is at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. We drive to the stadium, and normally, the players have to be in the vicinity of the stadium 90 minutes before the game starts. It’s really early compared to when the fans get there. 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 escort.
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 stadiums, there’s an ice hockey rink, there’s other stuff going on. It’s so trafficky, it’s tons of traffic and we’re like, “Oh, my gosh, we’re going to be late to our own ball. We’re going to be late to our own game,” and we’re nervous and we’re upset. Sure enough, we’re looking at all these cars, and we’re like, “Who would schedule something the exact same time as our game?”
We’re talking to each other about this, and then we look out the window and we’re like, “Huh.” USA, go USA written in paint, blue paint on the windows. We’re looking in the cars. It’s like, these little young girls with the pigtails, and their face painted, and all this. 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, grilling out like they do an NFL football game parking lots. We were like, “Holy crap, we’ve arrived. This is really happening.” We were giddy. We were like, “Hi,” 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.
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. Now, we were like, “Okay, we got to pull it together, and we got to actually go out and play.” We played Denmark that game. 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, people talking, blah, blah, blah, and it’s all scrambled.
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 thunders clap, and people are cheering, and all these cameras are snapping. Back then, they actually had flash and all that, and everybody’s cheering for us. It was so emotional. I kid you not, we were all crying as we’re walking out to play this game, because we had done it. We had done it.
Abby Wambach:
Ugh. Are you okay, Amanda?
Amanda Doyle:
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.
Abby Wambach:
Yeah, thank you. 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? I want you to take-
Amanda Doyle:
A few things.
Abby Wambach:
I want you to take us through the blow-by-blow of your specific save.
Amanda Doyle:
Bri, you should know that Abby has made me watch this maybe 600 times. I know every move you make. Go ahead.
Briana Scurry:
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 it’s going to come out different.
Abby Wambach:
I know, isn’t that a beautiful thing that it never changes? I love that part about it.
Amanda Doyle:
Yes, yes. Me too, me too.
Briana Scurry:
We battle, and let me tell you something really quick, though. We were a little nervous about playing China, and here’s why. 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, and-
Abby Wambach:
You were ridiculous in the game against Brazil. You stood on your head. It was crazy.
Briana Scurry:
Absolutely. I was spinning around.
Abby Wambach:
Yes, it was crazy.
Briana Scurry:
Like Jim Craig from the 1980 Lake Placid ice hockey team.
Abby Wambach:
Yeah.
Briana Scurry:
That’s what I was, like, the Matrix. I was just doing all these things. 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. We were a little nervous about the flatness, but we figured we had five days to recover, so we would be fine.
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. Zero.
Abby Wambach:
Where did you warm up?
Briana Scurry:
In the bowels of the Rose Bowl on the concrete.
Amanda Doyle:
Oh, my God.
Briana Scurry:
On the concrete, you guys. No warm-up on the pitch at all. Immediately, from the concrete to the pitch, we play this game. It’s a chess match, it’s a battle. Michelle Acres, I’m sure you remember, Abby, just owned that midfield. She was just diving, and sliding, and every tackle, and every ball, winning all these headers, and whatnot. Then towards the end of the game, it was zero-zero, very much in the 18 to 18.
I come up for a ball, and I punch Michelle Acres in the head. I got some of the ball, but I got mostly her, and she’s knocked out of the game. Then we go to the overtime, and China just swarms us. It felt like 14 versus 10 is what it felt like to me. They were just coming after us, because that void was there from me knocking Michelle out of the game, and they were licking their chops, thinking it was their opportunity. Kristine Lilly makes a save off the line-
Abby Wambach:
Oh, my gosh.
Briana Scurry:
… From the ball that was by me.
Abby Wambach:
Thank God for Kristine Lilly.
Briana Scurry:
Thank God for Kristine 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. Lill saved it. Right then, Abby, I knew we were going to win, as soon as Lill saved that ball. We go into the PKs, and I’m thinking to myself, okay, this is where I earn my spot.
Abby Wambach:
Pod Squad, if you don’t know, penalty kicks is what PKs are. It’s the thing that happens after overtime in soccer games that determines who wins. It’s a spot kick. Please just do yourself a favor. If you have not seen this moment, go back to this moment and turn on a YouTube video, or whatever, and just watch Briana, watch her eyes, just look at her eyeballs.
Just, this is what determination and fierceness… If I had to stand opposite you, taking a penalty, I would’ve been so scared. Your whole being knew. Go on, tell the story. I
Briana Scurry:
I knew. Okay, so we’re going one and one. We train this. I don’t look at my teammate’s kick. If you watch a PK shootout, their team 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. I don’t watch. Why? That is not my job. My job is to save one.
Their job is to make one. I’m not watching. I listen to the crowd noise, and that’s how I know if it goes well, but I had complete confidence that they would make their kicks. 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.” 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. 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.
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. I’m in the goal, and I’m waiting, and she approaches it. 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, three yards. I spring to my left, and I make this save.
All in one motion, I spring, I save it, I land, I roll up, and I’m just like, “Yeah!” That was the one. 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.
Abby Wambach:
I did not know that.
Briana Scurry:
Yeah, I tore some of the muscle off my hip.
Abby Wambach:
What is it like-
Briana Scurry:
Worth it.
Abby Wambach:
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?
Briana Scurry:
There’s this picture in the Smithsonian of right when I rolled up, and you see me just let out this yell. I basically roared, essentially, because that was all the effort, the time, and the energy that I had in my body just exploded out of me. Sure enough, that’s what the sound sounded like. The fans cheering, because they’re all holding their collective breath, literally like, waiting, sitting on the edge of their seat.
It explodes. Then you hear JP, who’s the announcer, “Save Scurry, save Scurry, save Scurry.” We all just went nuts, absolutely nuts. I was just like, “Yeah,” I’m stomping around, and I’m like pumping my fists. I was just like, I knew that was it. That was the one.
Amanda Doyle:
It feels like that was the answer to you at eight years old, being like, “Do you believe in miracles?” You said, “Yes, I believe in miracles,” and the universe was like, “All right-“
Abby Wambach:
We’re going to give you one.
Amanda Doyle:
“You get to live it, then.”
Abby Wambach:
Yes.
Briana Scurry:
Absolutely. That’s absolutely right.
Abby Wambach:
This save, a lot of people, when they think about 1999, they remember when Brandy rips her jersey off. What people really don’t know is that that kick is insignificant, had you not made this save. I would like to know, because the celebration for the team, Brandi makes a 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 PS, this had never happened before to be getting so much media attention. 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?
Briana Scurry:
I can, I can. It’s interesting question, Abs, because I didn’t really understand what was happening. 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. They didn’t want to ask me about the fact that I made the save. They didn’t want to ask me about pitching to shut out for the entire game up until that point.
They wanted to ask me if I thought I cheated, coming off the line. 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.” That is when it first began. Then I remember doing a few events after that, and I was just thrilled. I stayed in Pasadena for a couple of days, ended up doing Letterman, and Rosie O’Donnell, and Jay Leno and that.
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 deserved for making that penalty kick save.” 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. I was like, “Oh, well, you know…” I almost was making excuses for the fact that I wasn’t getting what I had felt I deserved and I had earned.
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. Goalkeepers just don’t get the credit we deserve. It wasn’t until years later when I thought back on it, I’m like, “It was my color, and it probably was my sexual orientation.” I was so bummed when I came to that realization, because I had always marched forward with absolute just determination and abandon with what I wanted to achieve, and never let anything stop me, and it didn’t.
What was interesting was how other people received 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.
Abby Wambach:
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?
Briana Scurry:
Ooh. 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. For those athletes, it’ll be somewhat even, in terms of coverage, and accolade, and the way announcers speak of them. For soccer, it’ll be also very interesting, because now, as you know, Abs, our entire frontline are players of color. The goalscorers will probably be either Mal, or Tren, or Soph, or-
Abby Wambach:
Jalen Shaw.
Briana Scurry:
… Crystal, yeah, or Shaw, or somebody who’s of color, and you better be as kind with your words as you would be if it was Alex Morgan scoring.
Abby Wambach:
That’s right.
Briana Scurry:
You better, and watch yourself, because people are listening to that kind of stuff. 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. 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.
Abby Wambach:
That’s good.
Briana Scurry:
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.
Abby Wambach:
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.
Amanda Doyle:
Also, how do you feel about the team in general?
Abby Wambach:
Yeah.
Briana Scurry:
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.
Abby Wambach:
Of course you did.
Amanda Doyle:
Oh, you did? You think?
Abby Wambach:
Of course you did.
Amanda Doyle:
Would you like to think that, Bri? Go ahead and think it.
Glennon Doyle:
Bury the lead, people.
Abby Wambach:
Of course.
Glennon Doyle:
Jesus.
Briana Scurry:
I got to have a little modesty, but yeah, the representation piece cannot be understated. 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, 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.
Amanda Doyle:
No way.
Briana Scurry:
That’s what it is like for soccer. 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. 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 an Australia, for that matter.
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. I didn’t have high hopes for that team after you broke your leg, but they somehow figured it out, anyway.
Abby Wambach:
Yeah. I’m thinking back to the little Briana 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 laid, 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, and 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,” to me, that’s the real gold medal, that you will always have forever more.
Even though it’s not necessarily up on your walls, it’s something that I want it to be an honor that I hope you take with you. It is true. When I look at this team, I see Briana Scurry. When I look at this team, I think, look at what Bri built. Look at what she did. You did it in such a way that, and it was a different time. We lived in a different time in the late nineties and the early 2000s, 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. 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 such a champion in everything that you do.
Briana Scurry:
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. 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.
Just like I had the smile on my face in 2019 and 2015 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, 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. After all is said and done, there’s so much more that I’ve been able to accomplish. 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. I know that, and I do appreciate that so much. Absolutely.
Amanda Doyle:
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 I got it?” I don’t understand.
Abby Wambach:
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.
Glennon Doyle:
It’s the opposite of the vibe of our daughter plays soccer, and how people, some kids, not our kid, I’m not saying that, but I noticed the vibe of the kids who the second they get the ball, they’re like, “Get the fuck away from me.” They’re like, 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 you. I’ve watched your documentary twice, but I rewatched it yesterday, and all I could think of was, holy shit. Kamala Harris is Briana. Briana, last line of defense, she’s the only thing and standing in the fucking goal, it’s fascism versus Kamala. What is it about you that decides, “I’ve got this,” and how does that transfer to your life now?
Briana Scurry:
For the longest time, I’ve always felt like I was on this earth to be creation and inspiration. By doing certain things, I was going to create and inspire not only myself, but other people. 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 get up, and dust yourself off, and go again. I’m very literal, and so when my mom says I can do anything I set my mind to, I believed her. To this day, my heart is my mom, and my mind is my dad. 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.
When people see me do things, they are inspired by it. I just know that I’ve always been that way. That is not to say though, Glennon, 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. 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. That’s just who I am. That’s my spirit. That’s who I am.
Glennon Doyle:
Yeah, it is.
Abby Wambach:
Briana 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.
Amanda Doyle:
Yes, and watch the doc, please.
Abby Wambach:
Watch the doc.
Amanda Doyle:
You’ll cry. You will cry, you will cheer, you will… It’s a religious experience is what it is.
Abby Wambach:
Yeah. Thank you for being here. We love you so much.
Amanda Doyle:
Thank you, Bri. Pod Squad, we’ll see you next time. If this podcast means something to you, it would mean so much to us if you’d be willing to take 30 seconds to do these three things. First, can you please follow or subscribe to We Can Do Hard Things? Following the pod helps you, because you’ll never miss an episode, and it helps us because you’ll never miss an episode. To do this, just go to the We Can Do Hard Things show page on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Odyssey, or wherever you listen to podcasts, and then just tap the plus sign in the upper right-hand corner, or click on follow.
This is the most important thing for the pod. While you’re there, if you’d be willing to give us a five star rating and review, and share an episode you loved with a friend, we would be so grateful. We appreciate you very much. 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 LoGrasso, Allison Schott, Dina Kleiner, and Bill Schultz.