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U.S. soccer star Carli Lloyd not giving up on NFL hopes: 'I know I could do it'

Frank Schwab
NFL writer
·2 min read

If Carli Lloyd wanted to make a run at an NFL roster as a kicker, this might not be the year.

But she hasn’t given up the dream.

Lloyd, a star for the United States women’s national soccer team, last year talked about the possibility of trying to make the NFL. She’d be the first woman to play in the NFL.

She said on a panel discussion by Yahoo Sports with the Women’s Sports Foundation that she still feels it can be done.

Carli Lloyd confident she could kick in NFL

Lloyd is realistic about the added challenges of anyone chasing an NFL dream this year. Coronavirus restrictions are going to cut down the league’s offseason.

But that doesn’t mean she has given up.

“First and foremost I’m focusing on soccer at the moment, but I've always been a kid who loves a challenge,” Lloyd said on the Women’s Sports Foundation panel. “I've never backed down from any challenge.

“I know with proper training and the right technique and someone showing me how to properly kick, I know I could do it. It may have to get pushed a year or two, we’ll see. I know the times right now are a little up in the air, so we’ll see. I’m not ruling it out. You never know.”

United States soccer player Carli Lloyd attempts to kick a field goal as Baltimore Ravens' Sam Koch holds the ball after a practice in 2019. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Age not on Lloyd’s side

One thing not in Lloyd’s favor is age. She’s 37. If she’s right and any push to make the NFL happens in a year or two, she’ll be beyond the athletic prime of just about every athlete.

Still, Lloyd is an elite athlete and kicking in the NFL is a specialty that has a long career span. Adam Vinatieri kicked last season at age 46, for example. Lloyd faces plenty of challenges beyond her age if she ever does chase an NFL dream and gets a chance, but as she said, you never know.

In a normal offseason, perhaps we’ll hear more about Lloyd’s next dream. It would be quite the story.

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