CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 29, 2026

Sam Rogers

Press Conference

Chicago Fire 2, Seattle Sounders 2

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Sam, for joining us in this post match press conference here in your hometown. We'll get started in the room.

Q. Sam, so you're back here in Seattle, got to play. Got a point out of the game. How did it feel to be back here and play the full 90?

SAM ROGERS: Yeah, it was a great experience. I haven't been back to Seattle much since I left way back when, so it was cool to come home. Kind of a surreal feeling playing in the stadium, like you grew up watching, playing for Chicago now, but I really wish we won. That would have been great, but, yeah, it was a pretty surreal experience.

Q. First off, Sam, what kind of cookies are those?

SAM ROGERS: My cousin's chocolate chip, famous chocolate chip cookies.

Q. Okay. Most important question I'm sure. I've got to ask you a bit more about this return. You left at a very young age. You come back to the U.S., you get married, you have a kid on the way and you're back in Seattle. After all that change, how do you think you've grown as a person and been able to enjoy this game today?

SAM ROGERS: Yeah, I think, like you said, it was a long time ago, a lot of years have gone by. I've grown a lot, been through a lot of life experiences. I think for me today was more like I was just focused on the game, just trying to prepare best for the game. If I know people like old teammates or coaches or family, I deal with that after. For me it was just important to come out, play, have a good performance, do my job for the team and try to help us be in the best possible position.

But, yeah, when the game ended, it kind of all hit me and when everything slowed down, it was like, yeah, just kind of surreal. When you grow up somewhere, been going to the games since I was nine years old and the first time I play a competitive match in this stadium is against them is kind of a surreal feeling.

Q. Well, I then have to ask you, how was it prepping knowing you had a start in line and knowing that was a bit of a dream you were accomplishing?

SAM ROGERS: For me, it was just, like I said, doing what I can to prepare properly, working with the coaches on film and seeing tendencies of how they play and certain players and just trying to set myself up as best as I can to help put a good on a good performance myself and help the collective and the team to try to get three points. Unfortunate we didn't today. I thought we had a lot of good stretches in the game where we could have put the game away, but that's football sometimes.

Q. I got to ask you about Robert's goal. Did you see how half his body was out of play and he still somehow managed to head it in the goal?

SAM ROGERS: Yeah, well, what do you expect from one of the best nines of all time? He can do things most can't.

Q. Appreciate it, Sam. Safe travels. I'm glad you were able to share that with the family.

SAM ROGERS: Thanks. Thank you.

Q. Now you got a full week before the next game, which is pretty nice after the last couple of weeks. How big is that going to be to rework and retool some stuff before Toronto?

SAM ROGERS: Yeah, I think it's going to be good for everyone. It's been a really busy month, a lot of games and a lot of travel. It will be really nice for the guys to be able to have a couple days at home with the families and kind of just reset a bit. It's pretty taxing on the body and the mind to have these busy stretches.

I think we'll get some good time to regroup and we'll come in very refreshed for the week. I think we're disappointed with the last few results with New York and Monterey and then today, thinking we could have gotten more points from those games, so we're just going to be even hungrier, fresher and hungrier. That's all we're going to try to do.

Q. Before you get out, how has it been? We talked a little bit about this during the Leagues Cup but you don't get opportunities with first-team starts for a lot od the season. You came in and today you looked so good for the full 90 minutes, leading the team in defensive contributions according to the stats I've got in front of me.

What has it been like mentally preparing for this possibility and then being able to take it like this now that it's here?

SAM ROGERS: Yeah, that's one of the tough parts about being a professional that a lot of people don't think about. Sometimes you're not playing for stretches of time, and you don't get the rhythm of a weekly game or like this month where you're playing every few days so it's even more of a responsibility on me and whoever else is going through those stretches to stay mentally checked, stay focused and just above all else, being ready for the opportunity because when you get smaller sample sizes, you got to take those as best as you can.

If you're not playing week in, week out -- I'm stumbling a bet, but you have to just do your best with the chances you get and the opportunities you get because that's how you get back into the team and playing more regularly when you show the staff that you're ready when they call your name.

That's all I've been trying to do this month with the opportunities with all the games is just try to prepare as best as I can, make sure my body is good and keep focus so that when I do get the chance to start or just come on, that I show them that I'm ready for the task and I'm available. That's all I can do. That's my job, so that's all I -- yeah, that's what I'm working on.

Q. Congrats on taking advantage of the opportunity and have a safe trip back and good time with the family and everything.

SAM ROGERS: Appreciate it, thank you.