Abby Wambach confesses to longtime prescription drug and alcohol abuse
As a longtime United States women’s national team star, Abby Wambach scored a lot of goals and won a lot of trophies.
Now we’re learning that she also drank too much and abused prescription drugs.
Wambach, 36, retired from the national team and professional soccer late last year after winning gold at the 2004 and 2012 Olympics and the 2015 Women’s World Cup and being named the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2012 — a prize that she, frankly, should have won more regularly for her dominance of the sport. Her 184 international goals were not just a team record, eclipsing Mia Hamm, but also a world record among both men and women, not to mention a testament to her immense longevity.
But in a forthcoming memoir “Forward,” due to be released on Tuesday, Wambach divulged that she has also struggled with alcohol and prescription drug abuse.
In April, Wambach was arrested for driving under the influence in Portland, where she lives. This was a pivotal moment in reckoning with her substance abuse problems, she told the Associated Press on Monday.
“That night getting arrested was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Because if I don’t get so publicly shamed and publicly humiliated, I don’t think I wake up,” she said. “I think I was asleep for a lot of years. Asleep to the pleas from my family and friends, and even myself, to get help. So that night I was humiliated enough to wake up.”
“Not only was I hiding this secret from the world for so long, so were the people that I loved — they loved me so fiercely they wanted to protect me as much as possible, almost from myself. [Wife] Sarah [Huffman] was definitely one of my saving graces because she was one of the first people in my life who made me aware of the problems that I was having,” Wambach added. “And this was years ago. This isn’t something that just snuck up on me when I retired from soccer. This is something I’ve been dealing with for years now.”
“I was stubborn and I was in denial,” Wambach said. “I didn’t want to face the truth.”
Much has been said and written about Wambach over the years, lauding her as an all-time great American athlete, regardless of sport or gender, and praising her pioneering work for gay and women’s rights. These revelations about her life, however, come as a surprise even to those who have covered her closely over the years. It was well-known that Wambach was fond of wine, by her own very public admission, but then that seemed little more than an interest from a vivacious and well-rounded individual.
In May, reports emerged that Wambach had flipped her car late at night and fled the scene back in 2014, suggesting that perhaps the 2016 DUI wasn’t a one-off incident.
“It’s really hard to talk about things when you’re ashamed,” Wambach told the AP. “And I’m not ashamed about what happened to me anymore because it led me to where I’m at right now. I’m proud of where I’m at.”
Wambach says she has been sober since her April arrest. She has worked as an analyst for ESPN since her retirement.
After Hamm hung up her cleats, Wambach carried the baton as the face of the U.S. women’s national team and did an admirable job spreading the gospel about women’s soccer. She has spoken regularly since then of wanting to make a difference in other areas as well, and has campaigned for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
While alcohol and prescription drug abuse may not have been something Wambach hoped to become known for, she might nevertheless help move this conversation forward. With her admission, she will further help to destigmatize alcohol and prescription drug dependence and, with her prolong success in the public eye, help to dull some of the wrong assumptions made.
And in that sense, Wambach could further another good cause.
Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.
