Back in 2016, shortly after NFL superstar Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the playing of the national anthem in protest of racial inequality in the United States, Megan Rapinoe did the same before her matches with the United States Women’s National Team. And now we know why.
Megan Rapinoe ended her storied soccer career this week when the United States Women’s National Team was eliminated from the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup on Sunday. To celebrate her career as she heads into retirement, ESPN aired a three-minute segment narrated by Rapinoe’s fiancee, WNBA legend Sue Bird, on Sunday morning as a tribute to everything she accomplished.
During that video, Sue Bird addressed Rapinoe’s decision to kneel during the national anthem, revealing that it wasn’t out of hate for the United States, but it was “because she loved America” and a result of her “patriotism.”
“Her patriotism has led her to lend her voice to those who need it,” Bird said in the segment. “When she started kneeling to protest racial inequality in the United States, she did it because she loved America and believed it could be a better version of itself.”
Rapinoe earned a lot of critics for her decision to kneel during the national anthem as well as her fight for equal pay for members of the USWNT. But she represented her country for 20 years and it’s clear she loves the United States of America.
[TSN]
