The best way to manage the emotions of Sam Mewis’ retirement from playing, without a proper final farewell on the field, is to revisit the vast collection of her funniest moments off it. Mewis, who was a key part of the U.S. team that won the 2019 Women’s World Cup, announced her retirement Friday following ongoing knee and ankle injuries that prematurely ended her playing career.
Give full credit to U.S. Soccer because they knew that in addition to Mewis’ talents in midfield, they had stumbled into a goldmine of chaotic content. Mewis, along with her sister Kristie — and BFFs Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett, Lynn Williams, Abby Dahlkemper, and more — provided years of comedy to treasure forever thanks to the magic of U.S. Soccer’s YouTube archives (and a few other sources).
“Sam is probably one of the best teammates I’ve ever had, and she’s also one of the funniest people. I don’t know if that’s that Boston sarcasm, that ‘Masshole,’” Sonnett told reporters hours after the announcement. “If you had a chance to play with Sam Mewis, it’s one of the best things. Not only the on-field production but the silly moments, the moments that you remember, off the field.
“She’s one of the best people, best humans.”
Mewis isn’t going very far in her post-playing life, leading a new women’s soccer vertical at Men in Blazers, which includes reuniting with Williams for select content. You may already know the iconic “Having an Okay Time” segment from the Snacks podcast, but there are plenty of gems for newer fans to enjoy too.
Here’s the best of Sam Mewis, the Tower of Power, and a queen of content, too.
Let’s start with a classic: Mewis and fellow Masshole Stephanie McCaffrey looking for Carli Lloyd for tips to stay on the USWNT. The three of them can barely keep a straight face while Mewis, all 5’11” of her, tries to climb into an ice bath in a hotel tub, already full to capacity with McCaffrey and Lloyd. “You guys are weird,” Lloyd says. It’s somehow only the tip of the chaos iceberg.
Of course, one of the most fruitful content lines for U.S. Soccer was the Mewis sisters, combined.
This first sister quiz is from way back in July 2010. Highlights include questions on who has the bigger head, Sam aggressively stating she does not like Taylor Swift, and Sam telling her sister, “Don’t act like you show emotion, ever.” Oh, and timely questions about Twilight.
A full decade later, they reunited for another version of the same discussion — with a flashback to Sam’s musical tastes. (On a related note, one of my favorite Sam Mewis discussions came from her column here at The Athletic about the 2019 World Cup that started with what was on her playlist at the time and then completely derailed to discuss The National.)
A January camp video featuring a few different combos of players turned out to be so successful that U.S. Soccer just released an entire bonus video of Sam and Kristie. They knew the magic they were working with.
“More Mewies content!” followed by Rose Lavelle saying “I feel like I’m going to regret doing this” is an instant recipe for success.
Away from U.S. Soccer, shout-out to the short-lived side hustle for McCaffrey and co., Sporting Chic. One of the most unexpected things to come out of it was thanks to an overlapping of the Mewis and McCaffrey combo with USA Hockey players at a training facility in the Boston area, which meant double the comedy and chaos. Maybe I’m the only one who remembers the spinach challenge, which features former USA Hockey captain Meghann Duggan cheating by stuffing raw spinach into her pockets, but now you all get to experience it as well.
I spent a not insignificant amount of time trying to track down random, shorter videos that lived on Instagram stories and here are a couple of gems. First, Sam Mewis singing Lizzo in 2019, which, in a sea of absolutely insane post-World Cup clips, still lives in my head rent-free.
Mewis has always been extremely relatable, but as someone who gets anxious about being late, this one wins. I cannot imagine walking into a USWNT meeting late, so the reaction is truly understandable.
How about some old-school NWSL? The Western New York Flash’s most famous piece of content might actually involve Carli Lloyd in a banana suit, but the pairing of Mewis and Abby Dahlkemper in this jelly bean taste test that gets worse and worse (“It’s pepper!”) and their growing anger and resentment is deeply enjoyable.
Back to U.S. Soccer, getting mic’d up is a rite of passage. “Excuse me, next time do you think the hurdles could be a little bit taller for some of our taller athletes, please?”
And then there’s just the decision to put Mewis, Sonnett and Lavelle on a Zoom together and hit record.
Maybe Mewis was always ready to be an editor-in-chief. “Move with confidence, girls,” is the rallying cry here before some Christmas caroling in camp. The singing is questionable, but that’s a true leader, right there.
The “So You Think You Know Sam” series is a testament not just to her power of content, but also to Mewis’ deep likeability as a human. Five contenders, her sister Kristie and teammates Dahlkemper, Sonnett, Lavelle and Williams, all try to prove on camera who actually is tightest with Sam. (The highlight is Lavelle during the final installment with Kristie, shouting “We’re in the lead, girls, we’re in the lead!”)
Lavelle led off with a strong effort:
Then Sonnett:
Here’s Dahlkemper:
Podcast co-host Lynn Williams:
And finally, Kristie:
Which brings us to, “are you having an OK time”. There’s merch, there are signs at every game, and honestly, at this point, the Mewis sisters might regret having this story go public with how much they probably have to hear this lobbied back at them. But there’s a reason why this is the one moment from Snacks that turned into the instant classic from the podcast.
(Photo: U.S. Soccer)
