Two-time World Cup winner Julie Ertz gave birth to her first child with husband and NFL star Zach Ertz last week. On Thursday, we got our first glimpses of the Julie Ertz baby boy.
Everyone, meet Madden Matthew Ertz.
Julie Ertz Baby Post
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Madden Matthew Ertz was born Aug. 11 weighing in at 8.2 pounds, presumably well on his way to becoming a USMNT superstar, because what decent parent would let their child play a sport as dangerous as American football?
Madden is clearly a reference to EA Sports’ long-running NFL video game series of the same name. Julie and Zach love playing video games together, so it must be where they got the idea for the name. I suppose it’s also possible Julie and Zach are just fans of the late NFL coach and commentator John Madden, or maybe it’s a family name.
The Ertz family has yet to explain where the Madden name officially came from, but we do know Madden has a headstart on the football recruiting trail, with NFL coach Kliff Kingsbury promising a college scholarship to the kid from whatever school he happens to be coaching at in 18 years.
The Julie Ertz baby announcement comes after a string of USWNT players have introduced us to their new children.
Earlier this week, Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger announced they had adopted a baby boy named Ocean Maeve Krieger-Harris. Last year, the married couple adopted a baby girl named Sloane Phillips.
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But we’re not done with USWNT babies this year. Crystal Dunn and her husband introduced us to Marcel Jean Soubrier in May.
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Also in May, Allie Long gave birth to twins Siena Maxwell and Trent Jameson.
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That’s a long list of USWNT babies, not to mention more in recent years, including Alex Morgan in 2020 and AD Franch at the end of 2021.
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Next up? Kealia Watt. The Chicago Red Stars forward is pregnant with her NFL superstar husband JJ Watt, expecting the baby to arrive in October.
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USWNT players are doing their part to ensure the future of U.S. soccer for decades to come.
Assuming all want to keep playing soccer, we hope they all made speedy returns, like Morgan, Sydney Leroux and Heather O’Reilly, who gave birth in November and came out of three years of retirement to troll Cristiano Ronaldo and score Champions League goals.
