U.S. Soccer had been worried that Megan Rapinoe’s protest would take away from Heather O’Reilly’s farewell game.
Instead, as Washington Spirit owner Bill Lynch did, they stole the thunder on their own with a statement slamming Rapinoe’s quiet protest during the national anthem.
Rapinoe — following what she said earlier was a lot of discussions back and forth with US Soccer — took a knee during the national anthem before her team’s game against Thailand on Thursday night. It was, to be clear, a big deal. There’s a difference between kneeling while wearing your club team uniform and the United States national team uniform. She knew that.
“I think it is a bigger deal,” she said last week. “Especially when you have two anthems, I’ve already seen stuff about standing for the Thai anthem and not standing for the US anthem. Again I think that’s people uncomfortable with the conversation that I’m trying to have … but I think it is a big deal. I take playing for my country very seriously. Anyone who knows me knows that. Anyone who barely knows me knows that.”
But in a statement on Thursday, U.S. Soccer slammed the decision, implying that the midfielder didn’t realize what a privilege it was to play for the team. They must have missed the part where she pushed through recovering from a torn ACL in nine months to represent her country at the Olympics.
“Representing your country is a privilege and honor for any player or coach that is associated with U.S. Soccer’s National Team. Therefore, our national anthem has particular significance for U.S. Soccer,” US Soccer said in a statement issued Thursday. “In front of national and often global audiences, the playing of our national anthem is an opportunity for our Men’s and Women’s National Team players and coaches to reflect upon the liberties and freedom we all appreciate in this country.
“As part of the privilege to represent your country, we have an expectation that our players and coaches will stand and honor our flag while the National Anthem is played.”
The U.S. has had a long history of athletes protesting during the national anthem, medal ceremonies or in other times when according to modern day critics they’re apparently supposed to just silently stand and follow the rituals put in place long before they ever stepped foot on the field or court. They’re supposed to be role models, but only ones that fit our ideals of good behavior and sticking to sports. And they’re not supposed to recognize the false comparisons between doing things like standing respectfully for an anthem of a country that’s not your own and protesting during the one played for the one that is.
But that’s not what patriotism is. And Rapinoe — as do the other professional athletes taking a knee during the national anthem — recognizes that.
“I’m very proud to pull on this shirt and play for this country, and also represent my country in a different way in speaking out for people that are oppressed,” Rapinoe told ESPN after the game.
Patriotism is not about blindly saluting your country’s flag when you think something is very wrong in the country that you’ve represented proudly on the world stage. Patriotism is about being the best citizen you can be — and that means drawing attention and working to fix things that are wrong.
And for those worried about Rapinoe stealing the show from O’Reilly? Sure, maybe that is what we’re talking about this morning. But if US Soccer hadn’t issued a statement less tolerant than most of those issued by even NFL teams, would we be? I’m not sure. But with their statement, U.S. Soccer ensured that no one is paying attention to the 9-0 win and O’Reilly’s beautiful goal that contributed to it.
