Megan Rapinoe has bid farewell to Seattle ahead of her final OL Reign home game as fans honored her with pink hair, while the team’s head coach and stars like Billie Jean King, Magic Johnson and Ken Griffey Jr. paid tribute to the All-American hero.
A National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) record of over 33,000 fans showed up to Friday night’s game at Lumen Field, with the Reign hosting the Washington Spirit in their second-to-last regular game of the season. Rapinoe and Co. will then travel to Chicago to face the Red Stars at SeatGeek Stadium on October 15.
OL Reign head coach, Laura Harvey, included Rapinoe in her team’s starting line-up, with the 38-year-old named on the left wing, where she’s scored two goals and has registered 5 assists across 14 matches played this season. The Reign are the No. 6 seed of the NWSL – the last postseason birth – and just a point behind the Spirit – the No. 5 ranked team. They could be in serious danger of missing the playoffs if they lose against both, or either, Washington and Chicago.
Rapinoe will be hoping to win her last home game with her club after her time with the U.S. women’s national team ended abruptly in August. The forward was among three U.S. players to have missed a penalty kick in a Round of 16 loss to Sweden – the team’s worst-ever finish at the tournament in history.
‘Hey Megan! It’s Billie Jean [King],’ said the 12-time Grand Slam winner in a tribute video for Rapinoe shown prior to kick-off on Friday. ‘You’re a legend and a leader! And we’re looking forward to the next part of your journey.’
Megan Rapinoe was honored prior to her last home game for the OL Reign in Seattle on Friday
Fans honored Rapinoe by wearing pink hair wigs and setting a NWSL attendance record (33k)
Rapinoe warms up before her last regular-season home game against the Washington Spirit
”Pinoe, what can I say…you did it all!’ then said Abby Wambach – the highest all-time goal scorer in U.S. women’s national team history. ‘You were a part of the biggest games, biggest moments. You won the biggest championships multiple times. You won all the individual awards that you possibly could and to top that all off, you and the team were able to secure equal pay.’
Rapinoe has been involved in the women’s team’s equal pay complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission since at least 2016. In March 2019, she, along with 27 of her U.S. Women’s soccer teammates filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation accusing it of gender discrimination, hoping to achieve equal pay.
In May of the following year, a judge dismissed key parts of the lawsuit including the complaint over receiving lower pay than the U.S. men’s team but allowed other claims to move to trial.
Rapinoe has been a longtime advocate for the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sports, and has characterized the issue as being part of a larger effort to ‘legislate away people’s full humanity.’
British-American broadcaster Roger Bennett – host of NBC’s Men in Blazers – praised Rapinoe’s ‘courage’, adding that she’s ‘unafraid’ and ‘unapologetic.’
A footballer who transcended our soccer bubble,’ Bennett further said, while three-time Olympic gold medalist and skier Mikaela Sheffrin, First Gentleman Doug Enhoff and former Seattle Mariners outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. also joined in celebrating the two-time World Cup winner’s career.
Commanders minority owner and basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, ex-U.S. women’s soccer teammate Ali Krieger and Rapinoe’s siblings, Rachael and Austin, as well as her parents, Jim and Denise, also paid tribute to the 2012 London Olympics gold medalist.
Fans honored Rapinoe at Lumen Field on Friday by displaying gigantic banners in the stands
“She gives you the platform to think you can be whatever you want”
Not many players have had their head coaches in tears like this. This is the impact of Megan Rapinoe we have talked about, and will continue to tell.
— SHE scores bangers (@SHEscoresbanger) October 6, 2023
Rapinoe (L) receives a kiss from her twin sister Rachael (R) during her last home regular-season NWSL match
Rapinoe’s mother, Denise (C), and partner, Sue Bird (right), applaud fans before Friday’s match
Harvey, who’s from Nuneaton, England, broke down in tears while sitting next to Rapinoe in a pre-game press conference ahead of the star’s final home game of the regular season, even going as far as to say that the former U.S.-captain helped her reveal to friends and family that she’s romantically interested in women in the past.
Rapinoe is engaged to WNBA legend Sue Bird since 2020. She publicly came out in July 2012, having previously stated she knew she was a lesbian by her first year in college at the University of Portland.
‘I think that I said this a lot and you know even being…I was a young coach when I came out [at] 32 and I’ve never lived authentically really,’ Harvey told reporters. ‘And I think, you know, being around someone like [Megan]…she gives you the platform to think you can be whatever you want.’
The Reign gifted an award to celebrate Rapinoe’s retirement before she took the field on Friday.
Her career was commemorated with a ‘Forever Reign, Forever Rapinoe’ flag raised at Lumen Field by founder of Seattle-based rock band, Pearl Jam, Mike McCready.
Rapinoe threw out the ceremonial first pitch before a Mariners-Astros MLB game in Seattle on September 27 at T-Mobile Park
In an interview with CBS prior to her last home game with the Reign, Rapinoe, who pitched at an Astros-Mariners game last month, was asked if she thought her legacy had left ‘the game in a better place’ than when it first started.
‘C’mon,’ said the Redding, California native before raising her hands in the air as a sign of confirmation. ‘Of course. It’s not just me and I say it a bit arrogantly but only because I’m speaking on behalf of all the players of my generation.
I think this generation of players has changed the game forever and it’s up to this next generation to take that platform that they are on now and take it to places we never even knew was possible.
‘Move the ball forward.’
Rapinoe is a Women’s Ballon d’Or winner and was named The Best FIFA Women’s Player in 2019 on top of her two World Cup titles and 2012 Olympics gold medal. She also played for the U.S. at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup where the team finished in second place.
Rapinoe co-captained the national team alongside Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan from 2018 to 2020. She previously played for the Red Stars, Philadelphia Independence, and MagicJack in Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), as well as Olympique Lyon in France’s first division of women’s soccer.
Rapinoe was included in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020. In July of last year, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Joe Biden.
ncG1vNJzZmhqZGy7psPSmqmorZ6Zwamx1qippZxemLyue82erqxnnZq0orqMn6axZZmjerG1zaRkm6GbnruqecOrnKyrXay2tbSMpp6kZZeew6a%2FjKidn2WSlr%2BjtcRmop6mXau2o7HSaA%3D%3D