Chicago Red Stars teammates Julie Ertz and Casey Short say hard conversations over the past several weeks led to their vulnerability in the moment they shared an emotional embrace while they knelt during the national anthem as the NWSL opened its season.
Short sobbed as she was held by Ertz before Chicago’s match against the Washington Spirit on Saturday night, the second game of the National Women’s Soccer League tournament in Utah.
“Currently, every time the national anthem is played, our country continues to become more and more divided on what the visual symbol of unity looks like,” Short and Ertz said in a joint statement they released Tuesday.