On the latest episode of the RE-CAP Show, USWNT star Tobin Heath revealed that she underwent a second knee surgery in her quest to return to the pitch.
Heath hasn’t played since the 2022 NWSL season, when her tenure with then-OL Reign was cut short due to a knee surgery. A two-time Olympic gold medalist and World Champion, she hasn’t addressed her playing career much over the last two years.
In the latest RE-CAP Show episode, Heath revealed that she had to receive a cartilage transplant in her knee.
“I think it was public when I got my first knee surgery, which was actually just kind of a clean-out of the knee,” Heath said. “I ended up trying to rehab back for about a year and got pretty close. I thought about signing for a team. At that time I didn’t think I was there enough with the knee to be able to commit fully to a team, because the way I play football is I’m all in — like I play to be at the highest level, I play to be winning World Cups, Olympics, club championships.
“And then obviously with that first surgery not helping, I got a second pretty big surgery with my knee that then put me in the category of like, ‘Will I ever play professionally again?'”
Initially, Heath says she wasn’t aware of the gravity of the second surgery. But an examination of her knee revealed that she needed a more intensive repair than previously thought.
“When I got there, I thought I was going to be getting kind of like a smaller version of a surgery, and right before I got into surgery, there was kind of a big revelation about the current state of my knee that put me in the category to get a serious knee surgery. It was a cartilage transplant,” Heath said.
While Heath said she hasn’t exactly closed the door on a potential return, she’s currently focusing intently on rehab — with the future remaining unclear.
“I kind of just pray to God and say like, ‘Whatever your will is for my career, that’s what it’s going to be,'” she added. “And I’ll just work my ass off and see where that gets.”
