Carli Lloyd shows off NFL-ready celebration, talks kicking future: 'There has to be a first person for everything'

The USWNT star hasn't shied away from the NFL discussion

By Stephen Pianovich

Aug 30, 2019 at 9:06 am ET • 1 min read

PHILADELPHIA -- With a kick at an NFL stadium, Carli Lloyd gave her team a 3-0 lead in a football game on Thursday night. OK, not American football. But Lloyd was at the center of the United States women's national team's win in a friendly against Portugal.

In the last week, she's been at the center of a question that has washed over the internet and sports hot-take debate shows: Could Carli Lloyd actually kick in the NFL?

Lloyd started the deliberation rather innocently, when she happened to bring her cleats to an Eagles preseason practice. The U.S. soccer star was asked to kick some field goals after practice. She had no trouble with the kicks, draining them from distance with ease.

Soon after, a report surfaced that an NFL team offered Lloyd the chance to kick in a preseason game. Lloyd then said she would "seriously consider" trying to launch an NFL kicking career and become the first woman to play in the league. She repeated that sentiment Thursday night.

"Why not? There has to be a first person for everything," Lloyd said.

Just don't expect her to be splitting the uprights in the NFL anytime in the near future. Lloyd said that if she pursues a football job, it will be with all the necessary training and practice as she doesn't want to put herself in an "embarrassing situation." Lloyd also stated that her priority is making the USWNT roster for the 2020 Olympics.

But she also rattled off why, in addition to her strong leg, she has the makings of a successful kicker.

"Nothing rattles me," Lloyd said. "I've got ice through my veins, and you can say what you want, and I'll come back and make you look stupid. It's just kind of how I roll."

Lloyd, 37, scored three goals during the USWNT's run to a second consecutive World Cup title this summer in France. She found the back of the net again Thursday night in the USWNT's friendly victory over Portugal for her 114th international goal. Afterward, the Philadelphia-area native showed the hometown crowd a familiar sight.