On the most recent episode of BFFR with Sydney Leroux and Ali Riley, the hosts were joined by FIFA Women’s World Cup champion and three time NWSL champion, Sam Mewis, who currently serves as editor-in-chief and host of The Women’s Game podcast. Mewis discussed her journey to make the decision to end her playing career and what it’s like to be retired from professional soccer.
“I’ve had ups and downs for sure,” Mewis explained. “I think the period that was the hardest was the year that I tried to come back and play for Kansas City all year and couldn’t. And that was a low.”
Mewis underwent arthroscopic surgery on her knee after the 2021 Olympics and had a follow-up surgery in 2023 which resulted in her missing the entire NWSL season with the Kansas City Current.
“I was not myself in Kansas City,” she shared with Sydney and Ali. “I decided to get this surgery and I went home to Boston for a year. And then I was able to come back to myself and be like ‘I know I can’t play, and I know that I need to take this next step forward in my life.”
Mewis began working with the Men in Blazers Network in 2024, where she interviews soccer players for Friendlies and teams up with fellow former-U.S. Women’s National Team player Becky Sauerbrunn on Good Vibes FC. While working in broadcasting has been rewarding for Mewis, it can still be hard to see her former teammates continue to play and be successful on the field.
“I was not well for a little bit,” she said. “And I think I’m on the other side of it now. And it’s not to say I’m all good, but I have such great things in my life now. So I mean, it was terrible and I wish it didn’t happen and I could still be playing but I’ve a lot of good things too and I think that the difference is now that I’ve been through the low parts I get to just choose to be like alright well, here I am.”
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