Julie Johnston became Julie Ertz right before she, along with her husband Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz, did the ESPN magazine Body Issue photo shoot. Johnston at the time, and Ertz today said the session helped her become accustomed to life with a new legal name.
“They kept calling me Mrs. Ertz, and that kind of helped me get used to it,” the United States Women’s National Team and Red Stars Defender said Saturday night after Chicago lost 3-2 to the Portland Thorns; the team’s first home setback this season.
Ertz did the body issue one year after teammate Christen Press participated, and the feedback was positive from Red Stars teammates.
“They love it, and they liked the pictures which I don’t know if it’s a weird thing or not, but positive I guess,” Julie Ertz said in the media mixed zone this past weekend. Ertz and the Red Stars are currently in third place, two behind second place Portland and seven off the pace of top of the table North Carolina.
They next host Seattle on Wednesday night. Julie Ertz said doing the Body Issue was an educational and emboldening experience for both her and her husband.
“It was a way for us to kind of reflect on how we use our bodies, and at the same time kind of actually gained a weird confidence, and cool acceptance with our body,” she continued.
“This is the body that lets me play the way I do.”
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“After the shoot, and during it we kind of just talked about how ‘this is so crazy. This is the muscle does this and that.’ If any of my teammates ask me if they should do it, I would say absolutely yes.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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