NWSL legend and all-time North Carolina Courage great Jessica McDonald was inducted into the Courage Ring of Honor in front of a home-opener record 8,158 fans on Saturday night.
Much like 2024 inductee Sam Mewis, McDonald left a mark on Courage Country that goes far beyond her extensive on-field accolades. McDonald was one of the players who established who the Courage were and, in many ways, still are today.
“I give myself much more grace now than I did during my playing career. It’s an honor and it’s legendary. I can say that now without sounding cocky because that’s just what it is. This is one of my biggest accomplishments. I get to go down in the history books as a legend next to my former teammate on the U.S. national team and on the Courage, Sam Mewis. It’s an honor,” McDonald said.
While she last laced up her boots for the Courage in 2021, McDonald’s influence is still felt by former teammates.
“She was someone who was always so welcoming to all the new players. I feel so lucky to have gotten to play with her and to learn from her. She is truly an amazing person and player. She showed me a standard here at the Courage that I think I’ll always remember and always have with me,” said Ryan Williams, who played alongside McDonald from 2018-2021.
Moving with the team from New York in 2017, McDonald helped establish the Courage as the league’s winningest franchise and the team culture that still drives the Courage in 2025.
“Jess was pivotal to our success. Her tenacity, mentality, her work rate. She will be the first to tell you what she lacked in certain areas she made up for in other areas, like her competitiveness and the way she took care of herself. She embodies what it meant to be a Courage player and I think the example she set is why that team had so much success,” said Head Coach Sean Nahas following the ceremony.
McDonald was a key piece of three years of dominance for the Courage that included three straight NWSL Shields, two NWSL Championships, and an International Women’s Champions Cup title. Across the league, McDonald and that Courage team set the bar for what a dynasty looked like in the NWSL.
“She was never too big for anything. She always showed up every single day knowing this was not necessarily a job but something that she was fortunate to do and she welcomed myself and some of the other coaches with open arms when we first joined. She did a lot for us as a club and hopefully, we can find a way to make her proud moving forward. It’s not easy because they set the bar. I think a lot of teams in the league are using that bar as their blueprint for success,” Nahas said.
That success did not come without sacrifices and setbacks for McDonald. But those hardships make looking back on her legacy in Courage Country and beyond that much more meaningful.
“When I look back on my journey and being able to tell the youth everything that I’ve done in order to get here, it makes it all worth it. It takes a lot of sacrifice. It takes a lot of setbacks too, going through injuries, I was a single mom throughout my playing career and trying to figure out motherhood while being a pro athlete and not getting paid much at the time, but I knew I had a vision and it took a lot to get there. That means more to me than anything because without those setbacks, without the failures, and without the sacrifice, I would not have been able to receive an award like this. It is one of the most legendary ones that you can possibly get as a former pro athlete” McDonald said.
McDonald ended her professional career as a FIFA World Cup winner, three-time NWSL Champion, 2018 Championship MVP, three-time NWSL Shield winner, tied for the all-time NWSL assist record, and ranks third in NC Courage history for both goals and assists.
A true legend of the Courage, NWSL, and American soccer as a whole, McDonald’s name is permanently etched into the foundation of the Courage and always will be as the 2025 inductee to the Ring of Honor.
