Legendary US midfielder Carli Lloyd immortalized her 2019 Women’s World Cup-winning US Women’s Soccer Team in Lower Manhattan’s Canyon of Heroes on Tuesday.
Standing alongside the Downtown Alliance and some potential future soccer stars, Lloyd cut the ribbon above the team’s second sidewalk plaque in the Canyon of Heroes. She talked about the thrills of victory and its significance.
“Both ticker-tape parades in New York City here were unbelievable,” Lloyd said.
“We captured the nation, we captured the world,” she boasted at a podium before doing the honors, going on to say that along with her teammates, the US Women’s Soccer Team will continue “pushing the barriers” for the future of women and girls soccer.
There is another barrier that Lloyd wants to break after playing in the 2020 Olympics — tackling a chance to kick in the NFL.
While at the unveiling, Lloyd said she’s already been practicing in full pads for a potential debut in American football.
“It’s sort of like taking a penalty shot,” she said.
“You’re not worried about the keeper you’re worried more about just putting the ball in the back of the net, so with field goal taking that’s the mindset,” Lloyd added about her newest athletic endeavor.
While kicking in the NFL is still a goal for Lloyd, the two-time gold medalist said that her focus is currently on preparing for next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, where she hopes to win a third gold medal in women’s soccer.
“I know that the NFL teams are struggling a little bit with kickers this and the last couple of years,” she told amNewYork. “We’ll see what happens.”
When asked about potentially enjoying a third parade down the Canyon of Heroes, this one as an NFL kicker, Lloyd said, “that would be wild, anything’s possible in life but I would cross that bridge when it comes.”
Lloyd grew up on the New Jersey-Philadephia border as an avid Eagles fan and she admitted that if the New York Giants were to give her an offer to kick, it could be a tough one to accept.
“Oh, I don’t know about that, I think my Eagles fans might turn against me,” Lloyd told amNewYork.
