Taylor Washington

From the Soccer Pitch to Seminary: Taylor Washington on Faith, Identity, and Life After Pro Sports

Taylor Washington spent years as a professional soccer player — logging 166 appearances for Nashville SC in Major League Soccer, winning a US Open Cup title, and competing at the highest level American professional soccer offers. But the most important moments of his career didn't happen on the pitch. They happened in a dorm room at Boston University, in a hospital room with a dying child, and in the quiet space where an athlete finally admits that who he is has nothing to do with what he does.

In this episode of the Pros to Joes Podcast, Washington tells the full story — with the kind of openness about faith, anxiety, and identity that is rare in professional sports and necessary for everyone going through the transition out of them.

The Gold Light at Boston University

Washington has carried one experience above all others as a north star for everything that followed. During his college years at Boston University, he was lying in his dorm room when he describes seeing a gold light — and hearing a voice telling him to go back to church. The anxiety that had plagued him vanished instantly. He says it was the clearest, most certain moment of his life.

He went back to church.

For athletes who have spent careers operating in performance environments where faith is rarely discussed openly, Washington's willingness to name this experience — and to let it publicly define his path — is striking. His transition out of professional soccer isn't driven by career calculus. It is driven by a conviction that he has been called somewhere specific, and that the time has come to answer.

MLS Career: 166 Appearances and a US Open Cup

Washington's professional career was far from a brief cup of coffee. He became one of Nashville SC's most consistent contributors, logging 166 appearances for the club and becoming a recognizable presence across Major League Soccer. In 2025, he was part of the Nashville SC squad that won the US Open Cup — one of American soccer's most storied and prestigious trophies.

The transition to retirement wasn't forced by injury or a roster move. Washington made a decision. He is choosing to leave on his terms — to attend seminary and pursue full-time ministry. That kind of self-directed exit is rarer than it should be in professional sports, and it reflects the clarity his faith journey has given him about what matters most in his next chapter.

Getting Cut From Philadelphia and Finding Dominic

Before Nashville, Washington was released by the Philadelphia Union. It was a painful moment — the kind every professional athlete dreads and most will experience at least once. But what followed became one of the most transformative experiences of his life.

Shortly after the cut, Washington met a child named Dominic — a young boy fighting stage 4 brain cancer. He began visiting Dominic regularly. What he found in those visits wasn't inspiration in the motivational-poster sense. It was something more disorienting than that.

"I go there like, I feel selfish because I'm watching the light of God through a kid."

Dominic's faith — his peace, his joy in the face of terminal illness — undid Washington in the best possible way. A child who had every reason to be bitter was radiating something that Washington was still searching for. That encounter deepened his conviction that his post-soccer life needed to be organized around something larger than performance.

Mental Health and the Weight of Professional Athletics

Washington is candid about the anxiety he carried throughout his career — the constant pressure of performance, the uncertainty of contracts, the question of whether you are ever doing enough. The gold light experience at BU was the first time that weight lifted completely. His faith practice has been the foundation for managing it since.

His story is an important contribution to the broader conversation about mental health in professional sports. Athletes are trained to suppress. Washington's willingness to name what he felt — and to describe a spiritual experience as the turning point — opens space for other athletes to do the same without embarrassment.

The Decision to Attend Seminary

When Taylor Washington's playing career ends, he is heading to seminary. Not as a fallback. Not because soccer didn't work out. As a deliberate first step into the second chapter he has been preparing for since that dorm room in Boston. His story is a reminder that the most meaningful transitions aren't always the most dramatic. Sometimes an athlete doesn't crash out of sports — they walk out with clarity about exactly where they're going next.

Key Takeaways from Taylor Washington's Episode

• A divine encounter at Boston University — a gold light and the immediate vanishing of anxiety — set the direction for his entire post-soccer path
• 166 appearances for Nashville SC and a US Open Cup title mark a full, successful MLS career
• Getting cut from Philadelphia Union led to meeting Dominic, a child with stage 4 brain cancer whose faith transformed Washington's perspective on purpose
• Washington is retiring to attend seminary — a deliberate, faith-driven exit from professional sports rather than a forced one
• For former athletes: purpose after the game doesn't always have to be discovered — sometimes it has already been shown to you

Watch the Full Conversation

Taylor Washington's episode of the Pros to Joes Podcast is a rare, unguarded look at faith, anxiety, identity, and what it means to retire not because you have to, but because you know it is time. Watch the full episode above and subscribe on YouTube for more stories from former professional athletes finding purpose after the game.