“I’ve Seen M.R. Almost Bully Players”: Former USWNT Player Once Revealed Megan Rapinoe’s Imposing Behavior Towards Fellow Teammates

Megan Rapinoe is a big name in the soccer world. The athlete is so significant that everything she does becomes a headline the next day. Apart from sports, Megan is popular for her activism off the field. She took part in the fight for equal pay and also fought for the LGBTQ+ community. Although her bold persona made her an ideal for many, some are against the same.

Notably, the soccer enthusiast is one of the prominent athletes who took a stand for Colin Kaepernick by kneeling during the Nation Anthem. Teammate Hope Solo once revealed that Megan Rapinoe ‘almost bullied’ her team members to follow her and take the knee. 

Hope Solo puts an allegation against Megan Rapinoe

Megan Rapinoe, the USWNT captain, followed the kneeling movement to support the football quarterback. It was a protest against police brutality and racial inequality in the United States. Nevertheless, Hope Solo brought a new side of the story to the table.

It was in September 2016 when Megan kneeled for the first time. Only a month later, goalkeeper Hope Solo ended her journey with the national team. It might look simple and uncomplicated, but Solo’s allegation against Megan doesn’t say the same.

According to Solo, the team’s captain forced the USWNT players to take a knee during the national anthem. In fact, she used the word ‘bully’ while describing Megan’s actions. 

“I’ve seen Megan Rapinoe almost bully players into kneeling because she really wants to stand up for something in her particular way,” said Solo about the midfielder.

In continuation, she implied that every athlete should take part in a protest in whichever way they want. Solo also mentioned in the same interview that there are many political issues for athletes.

“But it’s our right as Americans to do it whatever way we’re comfortable with and I think that’s really hard being on the main stage right now with so many political issues for athletes,” she added.

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Solo’s allegation against Megan was huge. Nonetheless, it’s not clear whether it holds true.  

What did Megan think before kneeling?

Even though Megan knew that she might have to face a lot of criticism, she knelt during the national anthem. But how she encouraged herself to do so is interesting.

“Much to the same way that I came to the decision about kneeling, I came to the decision about coming out,” said the Olympic champion. “It wasn’t really a question of ‘Is this the right thing to do/ should I do this?’, it very quickly became, ‘Why am I not?‘”

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There were several discussions regarding the same. Even former president Donald Trump brought this up in one of his speeches. There will always be supporters and opponents of such controversial topics, but it’s tough to differentiate the truth from the lie.