Sami Grisafe showed up for her first practice with the Chicago Force in 2007, at Lane Tech High School. She had contacted the team via the website and completed the online questionnaire, and her bio stated that she played years of youth football and also was the quarterback for the boys' team at her California high school.
Force owner Linda Bache, also a defensive standout on the team at the time, was "intrigued" by the possibility of Grisafe joining the Force. "I was watching the door to see if I'd know who she was as she entered," Bache said.
"I saw a tall blond with long hair walk in and knew immediately that it was her. She gave off a vibe as someone who could command a huddle and inspire others. She didn't know anyone on the team, but jumped into drills and immediately engaged with everyone. Then I saw her throw ... and I knew she was the future of our franchise."
Grisafe spent eight seasons as the team's quarterback, leading the Force to a national championship in 2013 and transforming Chicago into a perennial power in women's tackle football. She also has excelled on the international stage, winning two gold medals with Team USA.
Grisafe is, arguably, the greatest quarterback in women's football history. Make that, was. Grisafe, 29, an Evanston resident, retired from the sport after the 2014 season, in which the Force was one win away from a return trip to the national championship game.
Grisafe's retirement ranks as the No. 1 moment among the Top 10 Chicago LGBT Sports Moments from 2014.
"Sami had a phenomenal career," Bache said.
"There are so many memories of Sami making beautiful throws and great plays, but I think my favorite memories of her are when she handed the ball off and ran downfield to throw blocks for our running backs. It's rare to see a quarterback blocking, but Sami took great pride in it. Usually a defense looks for opportunities to take shots at quarterbacks if they leave the pocket, but Sami was an aggressive hitter who liked to initiate contact and she usually got the best of it. I always loved the shock and disbelief on their faces when she knocked the snot out of them."
Grisafe said it was difficult to sum up her career in a few sentences, but noted it was filled with "lessons of leadership, friendship, trust, capability, glory and tons of love."
Winning the national championship in 2013 was "pretty amazing," but not necessarily her favorite on-field moment. Instead, that memory was a year earlier—at the 2012 national championship game in Pittsburgh, which Chicago lost.
"We were losing and I began to revert back to my rookie ways, albeit giving up, when one of my then-retired teammates told me, 'What are you going to do, Sam? This is on you, nobody else. You have big shoulders. I believe in you.' I will never forget that moment. It was then that I understood what it meant to be a leader," Grisafe said.
"It's been an amazing journey, and ironic. As a young girl, people told me that football would do nothing for me, but it has actually taught me the most about how to navigate through every aspect of my life. Football has taught me to overcome insecurity, fear and uncertainty with work and the humbling act of asking for help. I have learned how important the people in my life are and how very grateful I am to be standing beside them. These lessons will serve me well into the twilight of my life.
"Winning two gold medals and being named the World MVP [was] beyond my wildest dreams. The greatest career highlight for me, though, was hearing my teammates and coaches both on the Force and Team USA tell me they believe in me, that they would go to battle with me any day. The latter is an accomplishment in character and one that I hold high above any contest."
Grisafe joined the Force during her last semester at Chicago College of Performing Arts, and she now is the singer/songwriter/chief creative officer for Vicious Muse.
Music is Grisafe's future.
"I love football and my team more than I could ever explain, but it is time to focus on my career," she said. "Performing is my other love and it's time to put the same commitment into music and acting that I did to football.
"I played football for 14 years beginning at age 10 and into my sophomore year in high school. I played eight years longer than I ever dreamed because I didn't realize that opportunities existed for women to play professional football until I heard about the Chicago Force. They are my family, always will be. The Force will remain in my heart as I continue on my journey."
And she probably will sing the national anthem before future Force games, as she has done—in uniform and gear—for years.
"It's going to be rough," when the Force season starts next spring, Grisafe said. "I've been playing this game for 14 years, nearly half of my life. Luckily, I am also in love with music and acting. I will be filling up every hour of my days working to make my other dreams happen. A rolling stone gathers no moss, but hopefully it grabs the cover of its namesake's magazine."
Grisafe was quick to offer praise to others for her football success, starting with her parents and brother, plus her coaches from her formative years. She said Bache "guided and looked out for me throughout my 20s" and tagged Bache as a mentor who "I was lucky I had."
Grisafe admitted that Force coach John Konecki "was hard on me, and I wouldn't have it any other way." She said Konecki "will always be my big brother [and he] taught me more about football than I could've ever fathomed. It was a gift to learn from you, but even more to spend time with you."
She went on to praise her teammates, all of them, plus the medical staff at Athletico, among others.
She has no football regrets. "I believe you are where you are when you are. I learned lessons from mistakes, from being young and bull-headed. Don't get me wrong, I've made tons of mistakes, but I learned from all of them. It's a sort of magic trick I play on my brain. It works for me," Grisafe said.
Grisafe was planning to retire after the 2013 season, but returned with team hopes of repeating as national champs. Instead, her 2014 campaign was "disappointing" and injury-filled. In the fourth quarter of the team's third game in 2014, Grisafe tore her ACL ( anterior cruciate ligament ) and meniscus. "I spent most of the season conditioning, trying to get back for playoffs, being a support system for my team and relying on them to make me feel like I could return," she said. "After months of training, I returned, but only as a fraction of myself. Not only was my body unable to do what I asked of it, my mind was slow to make decisions. I felt I let my team down and still feel pain of failure. Luckily, those women were amazing and wouldn't let me feel badly for long. That unconditional love thing, it's amazing and frankly, I am spoiled, as I will never accept any other form of love. All in all, in times of great challenge there is great reward. My reward was discovering how truly wonderful my Force Family is and the lesson that cutting corners never works, no matter how many years you have spent perfecting a craft."
Vicious Muse is a record label/production company that Grisafe co-founded with Kathy Kuras, and it will be releasing the first two singles from Grisafe's upcoming album, Brand New Fairy Tale, on Valentine's Day 2015. "We will release the album, two singles at a time, in 'chapters' throughout 2015," Grisafe said. "For the record-loving audience, think of digital 45s with an A-side and a B-side.
"The title track, 'Brand New Fairy Tale,' is a song inspired about marriage equality and at the same time carries a universal message about writing your own story, when you can't find your dreams depicted anywhere else."
She first performed "Brand New Fairy Tale" at the Illinois March for Marriage Equality.
A music video for "Brand New Fairy Tale" also will be released on Valentine's Day, and a children's book based on this equality message also is forthcoming, Grisafe said. Plus, a documentary about her life in football is upcoming.
