Megan Rapinoe - The Rebel

SOCCER - WINGER - USWNT - NWSL - OL REIGN

ARCHETYPE: THE REBEL

Day 134/135

Athletic Accomplishments

Megan Rapinoe is the pink-haired winger for the U.S. Women’s National Team and the OL Reign in the NWSL.

Rapinoe started playing soccer at age 3, after watching her brother Brian play. She continued through her youth as a multisport athlete, playing basketball and running track, but making her biggest impact on the soccer pitch. As a junior and senior in high school, she was a Parade and National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-American.

In 2005, she attended the University of Portland (with her twin sister), where she helped the Pilots achieve an undefeated season, winning an NCAA Championship. She was selected as First-Team All-American, NCAA Women's Soccer Championship All Tournament Team, and West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year. In her sophomore and junior year, Rapinoe was sidelined with injuries, tearing her ACL in 2006 and then the other knee in 2007. These injuries also led to her missing the 2007 World Cup and the 2008 Olympics with the USWNT.

Rapinoe returned for her senior season in 2008, where she was once again named West Coast Conference Player of the Year and First-Team All-American. Amazingly, Rapinoe scored 88 points in her career (30 goals and 28 assists), ranking tenth in the University of Portland’s history, despite missing nearly two full seasons.

Rapinoe entered the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) Draft in 2009, where she was selected second overall. She played for multiple WPS clubs before the league folded, then did a few international stints in Australia and France before coming back to the U.S. and playing for the Seattle Reign FC (now the OL Reign) in the NWSL, where she remains team captain. Rapinoe helped the Reign win the NWSL Shield in 2014 and 2015, awarded to the team with the best regular season record. She was also named to the NWSL Best XI in 2018.

Rapinoe earned her first cap with the USWNT in 2006. Her ACL injuries sidelined her for 2007 and 2008, but in 2009, she was back with the team, in the starting lineup, scoring goals, and tallying assists like she was born to do it. Since then, Rapinoe has developed into the player and character we all know and love.

In 2011, she served up a storybook beautiful cross in the 122nd minute of the World Cup quarterfinal against Brazil, which Abby Wambach headed into the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2, sending the game to penalty kicks. The U.S. won the shootout, advancing to the next round. With classic Rapinoe flair, she described the moment, which won the 2011 ESPY for Best Play:
"I just took a touch and friggin' smacked it with my left foot. I don't think I've hit a ball like that with my left foot. I got it to the back post and that beast in the air just got a hold of it."

In 2012, the USWNT won an Olympic gold medal, thanks in large part to Rapinoe’s heroics, including 3 goals and four assists in the tournament. She scored twice in the semifinal against Canada, including once directly off a corner kick—the first player of any gender to do so in an Olympic game.

In 2015, Rapinoe and the USWNT won the World Cup. Then, again in 2019, the team repeated the win, earning a fourth star above the USWNT crest. Rapinoe played OUT OF HER MIND in this tournament, scoring at-will and delivering clutch goals and play in every match. All of this secured Rapinoe’s legacy as a clutch player, the kind that always lives up to the biggest moments, after the former president chastised her on Twitter before the World Cup. “Megan should WIN before she TALKS,” he tweeted.

Well, Megan did win. Not just the World Cup, but also the Golden Ball, the Golden Boot, and the Ballon d'Or Fémini. She was also named 2019 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year, FIFPro World XI, and FIFA Women's World Cup Final Player of the Match.

This summer, Rapinoe is back, with the intention of winning another gold medal at the Olympic Games. Megan Rapinoe is NEVER going to be so sick of winning, and that’s why she’s always at the top of her game.

Character Archetype: The Rebel

Just the name Megan Rapinoe can evoke hundreds of images. Her perfect cross to Abby Wambach in the 122nd minute of the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal, extending the game to PKs and allowing the US to advance. Scoring at-will in the 2019 World Cup, celebrating with that iconic pose—arms spread, looking up to the heavens. Kneeling during the national anthem. Nude on the cover of ESPN’s Body Issue with her dreamy fiancée Sue Bird.

But that pink hair… that’s what stands out, letting you know she has as little use for convention as she does your opinions about her.

Rapinoe is as prolific on AND off the pitch, and that's saying a lot for someone who has won two World Cup titles, an Olympic Gold medal, and the 2019 Ballon D'Or Feminini. But Rapinoe is also renowned or reviled for her advocacy: standing up for equal pay and LGBTQ rights, or taking a knee to protest police brutality. Whether she’s hamming it up on the TV talk show circuits, or sticking it to the former president, you can’t miss Rapinoe’s trademark rebellious smirk and that pink hair.

Rapinoe has always lived up to the biggest moments, delivering clutch performances that feel like a heat-seeking “fuck you” missile to her biggest haters. On and off the pitch, Pinoe will not be denied nor told what to do. A rebel with many causes.