The Rush: Alex Morgan on joining Wave FC and stopping abusive coaches in sports
Soccer legend Alex Morgan is on The Rush revealing why she left the Orlando Pride for NWSL expansion team San Diego Wave FC, the popular San Diego activity she struggles with most and predictions for how she’d finish if given the shot to snowboard the halfpipe at the Winter Olympics. Plus, with new accusations that Urban Meyer allegedly kicked a Jaguars player, Alex tackles the topic of abusive coaching in sports and what protocols she thinks could help rid sports of such abuses.
Video Transcript
ALEX MORGAN: We talk about me moving to San Diego. I absolutely suck at surfing. I actually, I love the beach, and I love laying out on the beach. And paddleboarding, OK, it's a little outside my comfort zone, but I'll do it. But like surfing, I just go over the nose every time. I face plant in the water every time. And it's like, why can't I just get up and stay up just once? My husband makes it look so easy. So yeah, that's one thing I need to change.
JARED QUAY: What's up, everybody? I'm here with World Cup and Olympic champion Alex Morgan. How are you doing today, Alex?
ALEX MORGAN: I am great. How are you?
JARED QUAY: I'm good because now, I guess we're going to be living close to each other. You're moving to the West Coast and joining the San Diego Wave FC, an NWSL expansion team. What made you decide to leave Orlando and come back [INAUDIBLE]?
ALEX MORGAN: It was time to come home. You know, my family is here. My time, I think, had just ran its course in Orlando. I was looking for something new, and just a different chapter of my life. And I found it perfectly here in San Diego, where I see myself living for many years. And just a partnership with this club that I see lasting a long time as well.
JARED QUAY: Did the logo have some effect? I see that logo, and it makes me feel like relaxation. I feel like that.
ALEX MORGAN: I know. Pretty nice, right? It's like, come to San Diego. We're all sun and waves and pretty sunsets. And also, really good soccer, too.
JARED QUAY: Outside of winning a championship, which is everyone's main goal, do you have any individual career goals you're aiming to achieve in your first season?
ALEX MORGAN: Scoring a lot of goals. Having a team that pushes me and challenges me every single day. Winning a championship in the first year as an expansion team. Just breaking boundaries as an expansion team, setting a standard as an expansion team, and being probably the most ambitious expansion team.
JARED QUAY: That's a good answer. Also, this is my personal goal to put on you. I know you have five goals in a game. You think we could get six goals in a game? I want to see that crazy stat.
ALEX MORGAN: Oh, my goodness. Five wasn't enough? What's wrong with you people?
- What's wrong with you?
JARED QUAY: I'm trying to push the ball. I'm trying to make you be the best Alex possible.
ALEX MORGAN: All right. Challenge accepted. Here we go.
- Fine. I'll do it.
JARED QUAY: NFL Head Coach Urban Meyer has been in the news a lot lately. But the latest is him being accused of mistreating players and coaching staff. This is something we've seen in the NWSL. So what can sports do to clean up this kind of behavior?
ALEX MORGAN: I think it starts from the top down, you know. It starts from having the right policies in place and doing the right thing when presented with the opportunity to do so. It's players feeling like they can report, given the mechanisms-- an anonymous hotline, or whatever it might be, and without retribution.
JARED QUAY: The Winter Olympics are coming up. What winter sport would you have the best odds of winning a medal in?
ALEX MORGAN: What sport would I want to compete in? I feel like the half-pipe snowboarding would be sick. Would I just eat crap and probably break my nose? Yeah. And that would be [? cool. ?]
JARED QUAY: The new "Spider-Man" film comes out this Friday. I don't know if you're a Marvel Universe person. But if you were, what hero would you like to be, and which one would be the best at soccer?
ALEX MORGAN: I mean, Spider-Man seems pretty cool. What's wrong with them, just Spider-Man, you know? I'm all about Tom Holland here.
JARED QUAY: Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I was kind of a cheat as a soccer player. Can you just [INAUDIBLE] and then kick the ball in the goal?
ALEX MORGAN: And also, I think he's a Spurs fan as well, if I'm not mistaken. I mean, you have Spider-Man, who's a football fan. It seems like the perfect duo to me.
JARED QUAY: Ah. I love it. Well, Alex, thank you so much for rushing me today. I can't wait to see you in action with the Wave FC next season. And let's get six goals.
ALEX MORGAN: All right. Let's go.
