Julie Ertz earns induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame
Ertz was as essential to the USWNT's 2015 and 2019 World Cup titles as all the star attackers. She was surprised with the honor by her husband Zach and their sons at the Eagles' practice facility.
There have been a lot of great centerbacks and defensive midfielders in the U.S. women’s soccer team’s history. But few have struck fear into the hearts of opponents — and shoulders into opponents’ backs — quite like Julie Ertz.
For her outstanding play and the success it brought the U.S. program, Ertz earned first-ballot induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame on Thursday.
At the peak of her powers, Ertz was as essential to the 2015 and 2019 World Cup titles as all the star-studded attackers. It took years for the program to find her true successor, and some observers will say it still hasn’t quite happened yet.
She also did plenty at the attacking end, especially when a free kick came her way and she could power in a header. That led to 20 goals in her 123 national team appearances.
Ertz was named U.S. Soccer’s Female Player of the Year in 2017 and 2019, and was picked by the global players’ union FIFPro for its worldwide team of the year in 2015 and 2019.
Though she never won a NWSL championship, she helped the Chicago Stars (then known as the Red Stars) reach the title games in 2019 and ‘21, the only appearances in team history.
» READ MORE: A look back at Julie Ertz's arrival in the USWNT spotlight in 2015
Historians also point out that before turning pro, Ertz helped the U.S. win the 2012 FIFA under-20 World Cup, which remains the last time the Americans took that title. She won the Bronze Ball, given to the player judged third-best in the tournament field.
Though Ertz was born in Arizona and went to college in California, the former Julie Johnston would come to make Philadelphia her home thanks to her husband Zach. They met as collegians when she was at Santa Clara and he was a few miles up the road at Stanford. In 2017, four years into his first stint with the Eagles, they got married.
Even as Zach moved on to the Cardinals and Commanders before returning here in September, the family kept Philadelphia in their hearts. That included the Ertz Family Foundation opening the House of Hope facility in Hunting Park in 2023.
So it was fitting that Zach and the Eagles helped surprise Julie with the honor Thursday afternoon. With the team on its bye week, Julie was told the team was hosting a movie day for players’ families with young children.
» READ MORE: A look back at Julie Ertz's final USWNT game in 2023
Instead, when she showed up with her three sons, the spotlight was turned on her, and she was shocked.
“Being back here is also very full circle, I would say in Zach’s career but my life too,” she told The Inquirer. “It’s just been a really sweet year, and an emotional year … I can’t even put it into words, because it just means a lot to our family. And so for this to happen here, just, I couldn’t even have written the story better.”
Zach reflected on being there for so much of the ride.
“Everyone sees this end result, but not everyone saw the highs and lows that she went through on the day-to-day, her commitment to not only being at her best, but to her team and her teammates,” he said. “It was never about Julie whenever she was playing — she always deflected praise to everyone else. But it’s special it’s for her to be a first-ballot nominee into the National Soccer Hall of Fame, for sure.”
» READ MORE: Spain is still ahead of the USWNT, but Mallory Swanson’s big goal started the countdown to the World Cup
Julie acknowledged that Madden, Kace, and Kyren are too young to understand it all. But they will some day.
“They just know me as Mom, and they love that I can just run with them and play soccer with them,” she said. “And they don’t really know why I know how to play soccer, and I think that’s the sweetest part of it. But it means a lot to me, and so that’s what’s really fun about this whole day.”
Ertz is one of three inductees this year in the recent player category. The others are her longtime teammate Megan Rapinoe and former U.S. men’s team stalwart Jozy Altidore. All three got in on their first ballots.
The Hall of Fame inducts at most three recent players each year: the top two named on at least 50% of the ballots, and a third if they clear 75%.
» READ MORE: USWNT star Sophia Wilson has made it look easy since returning from pregnancy. But that doesn’t mean it is.
