Carli Lloyd shares a lifetime of emotions at her Hall of Fame induction

FRISCO, Texas — This time, the task was different for Carli Lloyd.

It wasn’t charging up the middle of the field through a gap in defenders, then blasting the ball to the far post. Or sailing a chip from midfield through shadows and over a goalkeeper’s head.

No, this one was simpler: to say thanks. But that doesn’t mean it was easy.

Lloyd was officially inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame on Saturday, adding American soccer’s greatest pantheon to the many where she already stands. The Delran native’s 17 years of professional accomplishments included two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, an English FA Cup, and two FIFA women’s player of the year awards.

After all of that, she achieved two more profound feats: reconciliation with her parents, and the birth of her daughter.

Nine years ago, Lloyd revealed in her memoir that the rigors of her training career led to a painful separation from her father, Steve and mother, Pam, not long before her first Olympics in 2008. Those wounds weren’t healed until 2020, during the pandemic. In 2021 the family stood together in public for ceremonies honoring her 300th U.S. game in June, and her retirement from the national team in October.

Saturday brought another sweep of emotions for everyone who followed that story. Lloyd’s father presented his daughter at the induction ceremony; in the crowd were Carli’s mother, brother, Stephen and sister, Ashley, their spouses and children, and Carli’s husband, Brian Hollins, and 6-month-old daughter, Harper.

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“It was important for all of us to be here this weekend,” Steve Lloyd said. “What makes it so much more special is that it was so important for Carli to have us here.”

He quipped that it was “not necessary to list all of Carli’s achievements,” knowing how well the Hall of Fame would do so. But he said he was “awed by what she accomplished, and I could never have imagined she would accomplish so much. … Boy, what a journey this has turned out to be.”

When the time came to address the most difficult subject, he did so head-on.

“These were difficult years for all of us, including Carli,” Lloyd said. “We all continued to follow her career, and prayed for the day we would be back together. … Carli, you started this journey [as] a young girl with a dream. You achieved your dreams, and returned to us a dedicated and strong sister, wife, mother, and daughter.”

After he finished his remarks, Carli walked up to the stage, and Steve fitted her with the red blazer that all Hall members receive. She was the last of the day’s six inductees, and everyone in attendance — whether from the women’s or men’s soccer worlds — knew the stage was set for a grand finale.

She was ready.

“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to say today,” she said after the first of many long pauses to gather her emotions. “I knew I didn’t need to stand up here and talk about how much I love the game, or how hard I worked. Most of you already know that about me. What I wanted to share wasn’t from a perspective of a competitor, but as a person, a human being.”

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Her deliberations, she said, kept bringing her back to a theme: “Was it all worth it?”

And as so often happens, one question led to many more.

“Was it worth dedicating my entire youth years to soccer?” Lloyd said. “Was it worth being so ruthless on myself when things didn’t go well? Was it worth having my life be consumed by the game? Was it worth the guilt of taking time off or feeling like I hadn’t trained enough? Was it worth all the sacrifices, missing funerals, birthdays, holidays, weddings, and other important milestones?”

Then she said the words that hit the hardest, for her and for much of the crowd that knew her.

“Was it worth allowing a trainer into my life that over time created a wedge between me and my family for over a decade?” she said.

A cry from Harper broke the tension, and Carli thanked her for the relief. But it was only momentary.

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“Was it worth putting my husband second?” Lloyd continued. “Was it worth being so intense, so obsessed every single day of my career? Was it worth not allowing myself to fully enjoy some of the most meaningful moments out of fear that I might slip backwards? And the biggest question of all, was it worth putting off starting a family?”

Those questions were not new to her. They chased her during her playing days, too, especially at the times when her pursuit of greatness was accompanied by loneliness.

But after telling tales of how she reached the summit, Lloyd arrived at her answer.

“As lonely and difficult as the journey was at times, I would do it all over again,” she said. “There was nothing I loved more than winning, but winning comes at a cost, and I paid that price. Yet in return I gained more than I ever could have imagined.”

She thanked the game for giving her “the tools to conquer anything that life throws my way,” and thanked the U.S. national team program for being “the most cutthroat environment I had ever experienced — and yet I owe nearly every part of my life to it.”

Lloyd spoke of the consequences of her relentless drive for success, fueled by the chips she carried on her shoulder throughout her career, and a determination to not show vulnerability in public.

She said hindsight didn’t bring regrets, but it did bring a wish.

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“I wish I had let more people understand me over the years,” she said. “I operated like an emotionless machine — I was intense, and I truly believed that the only way for me to survive in such a cutthroat environment was to be that way. So to my teammates, I want to say this: I’m sorry I wasn’t always able to give you all of me.”

Those words have rarely if ever been heard from Lloyd in public. Outsiders have long wondered just how hard it hit inside the U.S. locker room when she called Megan Rapinoe’s kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 “a distraction,” and when Lloyd didn’t kneel in solidarity with teammates who did amid anti-racism protests in 2021.

Lloyd didn’t mention any of that specifically. But even so, an apology on a stage like this felt like a step toward acknowledging that something wasn’t right.

“We can all look back at certain points in our lives and wonder what we might have done differently, but in each moment we do the best we can with what we know,” she said. “And I believe that my journey unfolded exactly the way it was meant to.”

She then thanked her teammates for how they helped her grow.

“You pushed me to be the very best version of myself,” Lloyd said. “Yes, we all had individual goals; and yes, survival on this team meant doing what we needed to do. But the competition we created within the U.S. women’s national team brought out the best in all of us.”

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Some of her most heartfelt remarks came when she spoke about delaying motherhood until after her playing days ended. Lloyd went through three rounds of in vitro fertilization before successfully giving birth to Harper last October.

“She is my greatest accomplishment,” Lloyd said. “I always knew I wanted a child, but I had no idea how this little baby completely changed me as a person. … I have allowed myself to be vulnerable, emotional, and fully engaged in every moment I get to spend with her. Being her mom is my greatest joy.”

Lloyd, 42, waited until the end of her remarks to address her family. But there was never a doubt she would, especially once word emerged that she had picked her father to be her presenter.

She first apologized to her siblings: “I am so sorry that we lost over a decade of years together. It hurts me to my core that we missed each other’s weddings and countless holidays and birthdays.”

Then she turned to her parents, and told the world what they now meant to her.

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“I don’t know if I can fully express how sorry I am for the years we lost,” Lloyd said. “At the time, I was focused on one thing: success at all costs. I know we can’t get those years back, but what we’ve built since has been the most meaningful gift I could have received.”

And she had not forgotten what came before the separation.

“Thank you for everything you did for me growing up,” she said. “You were amazing parents and laid the foundation that allowed me to chase and achieve my dreams. You continue to be incredible parents and now incredible grandparents to your five grandchildren.”

Lloyd thanked her husband next, for all his years of sacrifices. And then, to finish, she thanked the national team to which she gave so much, and which gave her so much in return.

“There was no greater honor than wearing the red, white and blue,” she said. “Yes, it was extremely hard. There were countless sacrifices along the way, but every bit of it was worth it because I loved the game. The lessons I learned, the relationships that I forged, and the experiences I gained were more than I ever could imagine.”

She encouraged the young players who now look up to her to embrace challenges and appreciate the journey. And she expressed a hope that they might do something she knew she hadn’t always done.

“Cherish the relationships you build along the way,” Lloyd said. “This game will eventually end, but the impact you have on those around you and the lessons you carry with you will last a lifetime.”

So will Lloyd’s legacy, now enshrined among the all-time greats.