NASHVILLE, TN – Taylor Washington says he knew at the beginning of the year that the 2025 season would be his last in professional soccer.
The 32-year-old defender is the longest tenured player on Nashville SC's roster, one of the first players signed to their USL club back in 2018, and the sole remaining member of their first professional squad. After eight years in Nashville, he's hanging up his boots.
"I told the boys in the beginning of the year that I was going to retire," Washington said in a special press conference at Geodis Park on Wednesday. "I think following God for me means going full in. And as Jamie Carragher says, leave the football before the football leaves you."
"In May of 2017, Gary Smith texted me. He told me that soccer was happening in Nashville, and he asked me if I wanted to be a part of it. I never thought I’d be sitting at a podium retiring eight years later.... It's just such a blessing to be a part of something bigger than yourself in a city that's, to me, truly about community."
Ben Wright
As a member of the original Nashville SC squad, Washington has been a fixture of professional soccer in Music City for nearly a decade. There hasn't been a Nashville SC without Washington, and his tenure has given him a unique front-row seat to witness the growth of the sport in Tennessee.
"It's it's hard to think back to think that soccer would grow in this beautiful way here, but it's just a testament to all the people who have been a part of this journey," he smiled. "To to be the last guy from the USL, I didn't never thought I'd be that guy. But to be standing here today, I thank God. I really thank God that they kept me around."
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More than just a place to play soccer, though, Nashville has become home for Washington. He's sticking around in Tennessee. He's also currently enrolled in seminary, planning to increase his involvement in the community, continuing the passionate investment into people that has seen him be named Nashville SC Humanitarian of the Year for five consecutive seasons.
"I want to go spread the gospel," he said. "I want to go love on people and do it in the Nashville community."
"After the first two years, after signing in MLS, it was really hard to go home," he added. "... I love New York, I love my parents, but home was here now... I think it's the people, it's everything that goes around in Nashville, the relationships that I've been able to establish... I pray Nashville SC keeps me around somewhere in the front office, but it's just such a blessing to be a part of something bigger than yourself in a city that's, to me, truly about community."
Washington has been a reliable servant of the club on the pitch, appearing in 166 matches and a fixture in the matchday squad, always able to step in when called on. But his off-the-field presence is what has set him apart, turning him into an early face of the franchise.
"The representative he is of the sport in our club is transcended by the kind of person that he is. Taylor is the ideal young man that every parent should aspire their children to become," said Nashville SC General Manager and President of Soccer Operations Mike Jacobs. "His ability to be a positive influence on everyone around him, that transcends who he is as a soccer player.
"He is as organic, as real a person as you come across. I feel so lucky and fortunate to have the opportunity, not only to have a chance to work with him during these last eight, 10 years, but to consider a member of the family and friend as well. It's a tremendous day to celebrate not only what he's accomplished as a player, but that much more as a person."
The poeticism of lifting the US Open Cup in his final year, a trophy that he competed for in his first year in Nashville, closing the door on this chapter with the first championship trophy in Tennessee history, isn't lost on Washington.
"In my last year, I got to be a part of a championship team! What a blessing!" he smiled. "Every year coming close, Leagues Cup, playing [Lionel] Messi in a final. To do it in the way that it was done in the longest running soccer tournament. And also against my best friend [Austin FC defender] Jon Gallagher, who I love, it was one of the most emotional moments.
"That's where I think there's no such thing as coincidence. Someone's writing this story, and I just I know his name to be Jesus."
Taylor Washington, one of the first players signed by Nashville SC in the USL Championship back in 2018, on winning the first trophy in club history: “This is a moment my grandkids will get tired of me telling them about.” pic.twitter.com/Xhd02Ss7i2
— Ben Wright (@benwright) October 2, 2025
As he moves on to the next phase of his life and his career, he'll still be very much around the team. He mentioned his desire for a role in the front office and continue working for the team. He's not fully turning the page just yet, either, with a game to go in the regular season and MLS Cup playoffs on the horizon – "we've got one more trophy to win!"
Whatever happens next, he'll still be a regular at Geodis Park.
"I'm so excited to see what Nashville SC does," he smiled. "I'll probably be the biggest fan. I might try to get season tickets in the supporters' section. I think I know a few people who can help me out."
