Tom Cruise was there, cheering on Mallory Swanson and the gold-medal-winning U.S. women’s soccer team. Swanson’s husband Dansby, though, had to watch in his basement.
AP
The Bears gave safety Jonathan Owens time off to fly across the Atlantic and watch his wife Simone Biles compete in Olympic gymnastics. Granted, it was preseason in the NFL.
So why wasn’t Dansby Swanson sitting next to Tom Cruise in Paris, cheering on his wife Mallory? With Swanson on the back of her jersey, the former Mallory Pugh scored the lone goal as U.S. women’s soccer beat Brazil 1-0 in the gold medal game Saturday.
The short answer is he didn’t ask.
“She told me not to, so I listened,” Dansby Swanson said before the Cubs played the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. “Obviously I have a duty and a responsibility here as well. Doing my best to stay connected with her and everything that’s been going on.”
Cubs manager Craig Counsell was asked about a potential Swanson leave of absence and stopped short of granting permission.
“I thought about it for sure,” Counsell said. “I would have completely understood it. I’m not sure what I would have (decided), but I would have understood. It has to be hard to be here, frankly. It has to be really hard.
“I think about him watching the games, ‘What is he doing?’ I can’t imagine watching a game like that. That’s what I think about the most probably while I’m watching, what is he doing?”
Swanson described the scene for those wondering. He was home alone in front of the TV.
“In the basement by myself like I’ve been for every other game,” he said. “Just locked in on the game and definitely let out some fist pumps and screams. Got off the couch, then right back into the same spot to not mess with the mojo.”
Mallory Swanson, a Colorado native, has played for the Chicago Red Stars of the NWSL for the past four years. Playing in the same city was a big attraction for the then-newlyweds when Dansby joined the Cubs as a free agent before the 2023 season. But Mallory suffered a serious knee injury early in ‘23 and had to work her way back.
“So happy for her,” Dansby said. “It’s hard to really even put into words just how happy I am for her. She’s able to enjoy this moment and obviously win a gold medal. Definitely a memory and a moment I’ll never forget.”
Her parents and several close friends were in Paris for the game, which made Dansby feel better about missing it.
“She called me after when she had like two seconds to say hi,” he said. “I just told her to go enjoy it, not worry about me. Just go enjoy this incredible moment and soak it all in.”