A professional athlete’s sports nutrition protocols and intense training schedule don’t exactly lend themselves to mayo-laden sandwiches and tubs of fry sauce. But Morgan Weaver knows how to balance life as a Portland Thorns forward with the finer things. By the finer things, naturally, we mean the mighty works of sandwich architecture created by Melissa McMillan and her crew at Sammich, the pastrami paradise at E Burnside and 22nd Avenue that doubles as a chapel of Chicago sports teams.

It’s not the signature pastrami that lured in Weaver, who joined the Thorns as the National Women’s Soccer League’s no. 2 draft pick in 2020 but was sidelined by injury much of the past two years, only returning to the pitch this past July. “It’s really funny, because it’s pretty generic,” the former Washington State Cougar says of her standard Sammich order, called the Teagan. “It’s just turkey, cheese, onion, lettuce, mustard, mayo—and I get it toasted, since that’s the best way to do it.”

How it started: Early on in Weaver’s relationship with her now-fiancé, Garrett Matz, he came to visit her in Portland. As he was getting ready to drive home, she recalls, he said, “I want food, but I don’t want something too heavy.” So…sandwiches? Weaver had gotten a DM on Instagram the year before from someone at a sandwich shop not far from where she lived, inviting her to come check it out, but she had yet to make it in. “So we came and tried it, and we were both pretty obsessed with it. The second time we came, I posted on my Instagram and tagged Sammich,” she says.

Fast friends: McMillan, who has four brothers and grew up playing boys’ sports, has leaned into women’s teams since moving to Portland. The Thorns were the first non-Chicago team to join her personal pantheon—hence that DM the year before. When McMillan learned Weaver was at Sammich that second time, she hopped in her truck and raced to the shop. A friendship bloomed, and soon McMillan was sending Weaver home with whole bottles of Sammich’s “burg sauce,” a.k.a fry sauce. “We ate so many sandwiches, and fries, and fry sauce, and probably gained 40 pounds,” Weaver says.

Chicago nope: Knowing Weaver has made McMillan an even bigger Thorns fan, and it shows in the decor—a Thorns banner now hangs from Sammich’s ceiling. Has the chef’s Chicago sports devotion rubbed off on her customer in the same way? “Absolutely not, no. Ew!” Weaver says with a shiver, mildly horrified at the suggestion that anything could lure her away from her beloved Seahawks and Mariners. The Seattle soccer teams can take a hike, though.    

Food as medicine: When Weaver sustained an injury in the 2024 season that would take her out of the game for a while, Matz drove down from Washington and picked up a Sammich order before fetching her from the stadium. Absolutely stellar boyfriend move—no wonder they’re now engaged. “I’m catering the wedding,” McMillan declares.

Spreading the word: “The girls on the team have come,” Weaver says, “and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, we met Mel, and she was telling us all this stuff about you!’ Oh, no, what is she gonna say?” Anyone who’s spent any time around McMillan knows she’s not going to mince words. “She makes Patrick Mahomes look like a little bitch,” says McMillan, who’s been known to start the “Mor-gan Wea-ver” chant at Thorns games. “I just thought she was so badass. She got hurt, and then she got better, and then she got hurt again. Every time I’d go to the game and she wasn’t there [due to injury], I’d start that chant anyway.” 

Showing up: “She is a huge advocate for women’s sports,” Weaver says of the Sammich chef, who’s also hosted Fire watch parties at the restaurant for Portland’s new WNBA team. “She wants us to be making millions and millions.” Entering a game in late July, her first time back on the pitch after nearly two years of injury recovery, Weaver heard a familiar voice ring out from the crowd: “Let’s go, Big Dog!” For McMillan, the support goes both ways: “Morgan became my friend, and we would just talk, and she would inspire me to do better. How can you not be inspired by someone who worked so hard to get back on the pitch?”