USWNT's Carli Lloyd celebrates goal with NFL-esque ‘Fly, Eagles, Fly'

Carli Lloyd's NFL-centric celebration has got everyone talking. Was that a hint at what she intends to do in the future? 

Published : Aug 30, 2019 21:36 IST

Carli Lloyd celebrates her goal against Portugal in a USWNT friendly match, throwing her hands in the air, paying homage to the hometown Eagles with an NFL-centric "Fly, Eagles, Fly" celebration.
Carli Lloyd celebrates her goal against Portugal in a USWNT friendly match, throwing her hands in the air, paying homage to the hometown Eagles with an NFL-centric "Fly, Eagles, Fly" celebration.
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Carli Lloyd celebrates her goal against Portugal in a USWNT friendly match, throwing her hands in the air, paying homage to the hometown Eagles with an NFL-centric "Fly, Eagles, Fly" celebration.

Carli Lloyd scored a goal in the 52nd minute of the USWNT's friendly against Portugal at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, but it was her celebration that got everyone talking. 

The two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist celebrated her goal by paying homage to the hometown Eagles with an NFL-centric "Fly, Eagles, Fly" celebration.

 

She gave her teammates a hug, and then turned to the crowd and put both hands in the air in the shape of a field goal to say "it's good," similar to the signal football officials use to call a successful field goal attempt. 

But the real question is: could her celebration be a hint at what she intends to do in the future?

Lloyd turned heads earlier this month when she drilled a 55-yard field goal while visiting an Eagles practice. She since has said she's received some inquiries from NFL teams, and her trainer, James Galanis, even revealed to Fox Sports that one unidentified team gave her an opportunity to play in a preseason game. But Lloyd turned it down because it conflicted with her USWNT schedule.

 

If Lloyd does end up trying to pursue an NFL career, she already has support from several current and former kickers that who offered to help, including Stephen Hauschka of the Bills.

"I saw the way she kicked that ball and she's obviously got a lot of talent," Hauschka  told ESPN  after the Bills' preseason finale Thursday. "If it's something she really wants to do, not only will I help her out — if she wants it — but I hope she goes for it. I do think it's possible to kick well in this league as a female. It's a very mental position, it's physical, it's technical and I think it could be done eventually."

Hauschka acknowledged there will be some challenges for Lloyd in the NFL, but he's confident she would be able do it.

"The thing I think that'll be tough for her is just game experience," he said. "There's a lot of things that you've got to learn over the course of [a career] and it's hard to learn that stuff at the NFL level because there's not room for error. I was fortunate enough to be able to kick at a Division III level and then the Division I level and work my way up.

"But I think it's really cool, a really cool story."

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