Rapinoe began taking a knee during the national anthem with her club team, the Seattle Reign, as a show of solidarity with Colin Kaepernick and his desire to raise the discussion on racial oppression in the U.S. Originally, she had said that she would take a knee even while playing for the U.S., but then was reconsidering.
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Maybe she doesn’t want to distract from O’Reilly’s farewell game; the retiring star is well-loved by her teammates and Rapinoe could be forgiven from not wanting to distract from such an important evening.
Rapinoe said she was “saddened” by the Spirit’s move. In her next game with Seattle on September 7, the league’s Washington Spirit played the anthem before players took the field to prevent a repeat protest.
Megan Rapinoe took a knee during the national anthem again on Thursday, but this time it was a little different.
“Wherever you fall on the spectrum of love it vs. hate it with the anthem protest, Adrian (referring to play-by-play announcer Adrian Healey), I hope there’s one thing we all can agree on, and that is that freedom comes in many forms, and one of the lovely rights we’ve been given in this country is the freedom of expression. So, in terms of standing for a national anthem, I think that’s an expectation for a national team player”, Ellis said. No players joined her, although all remained close by on either side. Now we have to wait and see how U.S. Soccer reacts.
“Megan and I have had several conversations and I completely understand her willingness to try to bring attention to some social issues that are hard”, Ellis said. “It is a personal stance within a team environment”.
She’s expected to be on the teamsheet for tonight’s USWNT friendly vs Thailand. Officials said the boy, Tyree King, was shot and killed by an officer after King pulled what appeared to be a firearm out of his waistband when pursued in connection with an armed robbery minutes earlier.
It is unclear what, if any, role the incident played in Rapinoe’s decision to follow through on her protest during the national anthem, although she retweeted a tweet from journalist and Black Live Matter activist Shaun King that connected the shooting with the death of Tamir Rice.
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The U.S. plays next on September 18 against the Netherlands in Atlanta.
