A biography for Jessica McDonaldhasn’t been written yet.
“It's exciting to play against old teammates, old friends.”
“That's what pushes me every day to want to be successful on the soccer field - being able to not only take care of my kid on a financial level and be stable but, most importantly, to inspire my child.”
“There were days when I would just go home and cry because it was that hard, but I didn't want to give up just because things got hard, just because I was a mom.”
“When you become a parent, obviously it changes your life in so many ways.”
“After having a child, my career just skyrocketed. You have all that weight to kill off - you're working 10 times harder.”
“I need to keep my focus as an individual and keep supporting my team.”
“It was definitely a big boost when I went into Australia. That's what really got my recognition going. I started scoring. I started feeling a little bit better each game.”
“My parents gave up on their dreams in sports because they were athletes, and they had me at such an early age. I didn't want to do that.”
“I've had so many parents DM me on social media thanking me because I simply have dreadlocks, because their daughters wear dreadlocks and play with dreadlocks, and I'm like, 'Well why not? Let's do it.' It's really cool to be able to inspire the younger generation of kids of color that look like us.”
“I know all the girls; we all have something to play for, we all have this goal, and we're all on the same page as to what we want at the end of the day. But as for me, I have something a little bit more to play for, and that's my kid.”
“Being able to inspire my kid with what I'm doing now, it's going to help him succeed in the future, and that's one of my main goals here - is to try and succeed on the field, and succeed as a mother.”
“There hasn't been any positive steps for moms in the NWSL. Now we're kind of getting our heads together, getting ideas together, and so now we can start somewhere as moms... Child care is not cheap. And if you look at our paychecks and you look at child care, there goes our paycheck. How are we going to eat?”
“I was one of those players that had to come in and prove that I can belong on this field with these girls, and I can hang in this league as well.”
“You're always supposed to follow-up any cross or whatever towards the goalkeeper.”
“Being able to go home to my kid is such a relief because he's such a happy kid. He balances my life out in such a good way.”
“Just getting paid for six months out of the year is unacceptable in any kind of job.”
“What I am working hardest for is for my kid, for a better future for him.”
“Everyone has their opinions about the Bible and God.”