Introducing Payback

From The Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News & Observer, McClatchy Studios and iHeartRadio comes the remarkable journey of Jessica McDonald, a striker on the 2019 World Cup-champion U.S. Women's National Team who might not be a household name, but whose story you’ll never forget. A teen runaway who became a single mom, McDonald reveals for the first time how she rose from a broken home in Phoenix to the pinnacle of sports in Lyon, France — and how today, she’s using her voice to battle systemic inequalities in soccer, including as part of the U.S. women’s national team’s recent settlement in their landmark fight for equal pay. New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Legendary women's soccer coach Anson Lawrence told me there are
players he is paid to coach. Oh what a finish
by jess McDonald, and players he'd coach for free. McDonalds, Oh,
my goodness, But that he would pay to coach Jessica McDonald.
She's had some very difficult moments in her life, but
there's something inside the great athletes that is why they're great.

(00:25):
I'm Alexandrea, lead soccer writer at The Charlotte Observer in
North Carolina, where McDonald became one of the most amazing
figures in sports. Calino is the ninety second that it
this march on Payback, The Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News, An Observer,
McClatchy Studios, and I Heart Radio share for the first
time her story. I ran away from home when I

(00:48):
was seventeen years old. My recollections are mostly trying to
find her. I wasn't just scared. I was scared for
my life. When she told me, I was just in tears,
I'm like, how do you deal with that? A battle
for greatness against the longest odds. Thank God for sport.
That was my escape. And then I find out I'm
pregnant with my son. There's the nail in the coffin.

(01:09):
All right, your mom, now it's over. I was signing
all these one year contracts I was making k I
couldn't afford childcare, and an investigation into social inequity rampant
in a game long struggling for legitimacy. Tonight, professional women's
soccer is turned upside down after a shocking report. We're
talking about abuse, the darkest moments of some players. Live

(01:32):
MacDonald making her first start for the U S women's
national team. How about that. I need to show an
example for my son. That's what inspires me day in
and day out. An incredible journey to the pinnacle of sports.
That's it where McDonald found one last battle for change
generations in the making. The whole stadium cheering for US

(01:54):
equal pay. That's a movement payback from The Charlotte Observer,
Raleigh News and Observer, McClatchy Studios and iHeart Radio coming
March on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever
you get your podcasts. What has that been like to
watch your mom play? She's won a lot of games

(02:17):
and now she's becoming a legend