Megan Rapinoe Takes to the Player’s Tribune

There is no doubt the American population has an obsession with professional football. Such is the source of the undue amount of attention to a second string quarterback in the league taking a knee during the National Anthem. He wasn’t the first professional athlete to do so, but this is the NFL. Everybody watches.

In distinct contrast, nobody gives a shit about women’s soccer. That’s not a subjective opinion, that’s backed by every single statistic available. Audience, attendance, viewership, awareness, money. That applies to men’s soccer as well in the United State. Though women’s soccer even more so. Every World Cup or Olympics the TV network in charge drums up support and Coca-Cola and McDonald’s chip in, but your bathtub drain receives more thought the four years in between. The mere mention of Megan Rapinoe anything is purely by association to Kaepernick, the NFL protest, and a chance for sports journalists to be pretend to be real reporters.

Rapinoe has been taking a knee at each of her unattended soccer matches. She even did so at an event representing the United State, which most everyone kind of agreed was in bad form. If you’re having distinct issues with your nation, you need not run around a field for 90 minutes playing a sport nobody in the country cares about while wearing red, white and blue. White people still have choices. You don’t have to play.

Rapinoe took to the Player’s Tribune where athletes go to express the heartfelt feelings that absolutely nobody cares about as much as if they score points for their team on the weekends. Or in the case of Rainoe, simply make soccer go away for good.

I can understand if you think that I’m disrespecting the flag by kneeling, but it is because of my utmost respect for the flag and the promise it represents that I have chosen to demonstrate in this way. When I take a knee, I am facing the flag with my full body, staring straight into the heart of our country’s ultimate symbol of freedom — because I believe it is my responsibility, just as it is yours, to ensure that freedom is afforded to everyone in this country.

Awesome. Alex Rodriguez is reading this while fucking the ex-wife of the Google founder on a bed made of hundreds and blessing his good to be living in the U.S.  Whatever you’re doing to salve the wounds of racial injustice in this nation it’s not working. It can’t possibly work because the problem is complex and profound and you’re doing a whole lot of nothing. You’re a soccer player. When you’re done doing that, maybe you can be something else.

Being a full-time athlete actually does disqualify you from solving major social problems. It can’t be done at night behind your iMac while your wife massages your shoulders and tells you you’re amazing. Merge all the Player’s Tribune athlete essays into one and they’ve helped exactly nobody. Start a scholarship program for an inner city child to attend college and you will help somebody in a meaningful way. People who set out to change the world get jack shit done. Like setting a strategy in soccer of trying to score twice in a game. It’s too bold to ever work. Kick the ball around until something bounces in and sit on your lead for an hour. Why am I explaining this to you? We have the same haircut.

_{Photo credit: Splash News}