On a soccer field, the goalkeeper
is the last line of defense.
Their skills can literally make
or break the game legendary
soccer goalie Briana Scurry spent
decades to find gravity with her
athleticism when it mattered most.
She never hid during a game or in
life who she truly was during Pride
Month and 50 years after title nine.
We talked with this trailblazer in
women's sports about standing in her
truth and the arc of her greatest save.
I AM 50 years old.
And have spent almost half of
those years guarding soccer balls.
It is a job that brought me a
measure of fame, if not fortune,
along with some of the
greatest thrills of my life.
And the greatest pain too. Alright you
ready, I am. Yeah, Brianna Scurry
is finally ready to tell that story
before I wasn't sure about if
I was ready to go back in those
rooms of my life that are a little
bit shady or a little bit dark,
or that I haven't visited in a long
time because of the pain in there.
Brianna grew up in Minnesota and
flourished in spaces where she was
often the only person who looked like
her in classes and on the field.
I feel like I was just meant to be there,
whether it was on the national team.
Or, you know, in college playing
a sport that's predominantly
white and suburban, Brianna
left it all on the field in goal and as the
first out gay player in women's soccer, I
wanted to be authentically who I am.
And I didn't feel like I needed to hide
or ask permission from anyone to be me.
So I think I've been really lucky,
but I know a lot of people haven't been
her career spanned the globe,
and in 1996 she achieved one of her
long held dreams to earn Olympic gold.
Think of the most amazing moment
you could possibly have in your
life and multiply it by 1000.
That's what it feels like.
I mean, the pageantry and the drama.
I can take them out of here if you want to.
I mean, I know you wanna,
it's OK let me touch it I am.
I mean I'm gonna let you touch
it there would be more
medals and more accolades.
Perhaps you remember this game?
The US won five to four on a
penalty shootout. Brianna's
leap of Faith saved the day that
stretch I actually tore a little
bit of muscle off the bone.
Brianna and her teammates were
becoming household names,
but as the story of this
legendary team was told,
there were differences.
Differences in who made the
biggest impact and in how they
were recognized with endorsements.
And more
than I realized.
OK, maybe it's not the goalkeeper
position and it wasn't until.
Far later, when I realized
you maybe it was my color,
maybe it was the way I looked,
or the fact that I was out that
hindered opportunity for me
then came a curveball.
In 2010, a knee to the head would.
In Brianna's career,
I was very slow to stand up,
and the referees like,
come on, keep let's go.
So I stood up and I knew
there was something wrong.
It was a severe head trauma that
required surgery, but the player
who represented her country one.
173 times and won a World Cup
and two Olympic gold medals.
Says she had to fight an American insurance
company to get the care she needed.
I'm still upset about it because there are
certain things that are just not right.
Brianna says she also had to fight
her old team to get medical treatment
and because the women weren't paid
as well as the men's soccer team,
she was deeply in debt.
I had to. Decide whether.
I was going to pawn my medals.
And to this day it's a very
painful thing to think about.
She pawned those medals and began
to spiral even further into despair.
The traumatic injury and the
fight to rebuild had brought her
to the brink of nearly taking
her own life. If it wasn't for my mom
being alive at the time and the thought
of her being told that her baby was gone.
That's what kept me from doing it while
Brianna lost both of her parents, life gave
her something new love she met and
married her wife Chrissa, and gained
2 bonus children and she
reclaimed these medals.
The one she had pawned years ago
and has a renewed purpose. I have
a home in a life that is above and
beyond anything I could have possibly.
Have expected and so I am grateful every day.
For everything. My greatest save was
actually me. And there's this
another measure of Brianna's
impact on and off the field.
Equal pay will finally be a reality
for women's soccer players.
My job was to put the road down.
And then their job is to.
Run on it. Drive on it. Fly on.
However, they're going to do it.
My legacy is rather bright
and I'm I'm very proud of it.
Another thing Brianna is proud of is
how her efforts to be a game changer
are now showcased in the sports
exhibit at the National Museum of
African American History and Culture.
She starts her book tour soon
and she'll be featured in a new
documentary called The Only Streaming
on Paramount Plus next month.