Commentary: Megan Rapinoe leaving soccer on her own terms, same way she rose to stardom

Megan Rapinoe’s soccer career has unfolded largely on her terms, so it made sense that it should end that way, with the two-time world champion and 2019 FIFA player of the year announcing Saturday that this season will be her last.

Rapinoe will play what could be her final home match for the national team Sunday before heading to New Zealand for this summer’s World Cup. She then plans to finish the NWSL season with the OL Reign before stepping aside, leaving behind a hole far too big for one woman to fill.

“I’m just really grateful to be able to do it in this way,” said Rapinoe, 38. “It is incredibly rare for athletes or any stature to go out in their own way, on their own terms, in a way that feels peaceful and settled for them. So I wanted to do it now and kind of get it out of the way before we go down to New Zealand so we can focus on the task at hand, which is winning another World Cup.”

Winning another World Cup would give Rapinoe three in a row, something no player, male or female, has accomplished. A skilled passer and deadly artist on set pieces, she’ll finish her 17-year career with more than 200 appearances and among U.S. Soccer’s top 10 all-time in goals and assists.

But it’s what she has done off the field that will define her legacy and be remembered as her biggest victories.

Rapinoe, who is gay, is an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and was a leader in the national team’s fight for gender equality, which paid off last year when U.S. Soccer became the first federation in history to agree to equal pay, travel and accommodations for both male and female players. Last summer that work was honored at the White House, where Joe Biden made her the first soccer player to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

And this summer, prodded in part by Rapinoe and other player advocates, FIFA increased the prize-money purse for the Women’s World Cup to $152 million — four times what it was in 2019 — and agreed to pay each participant $30,000 for showing up.

Rapinoe has been an equally effective activist away from the spotlight, where she has quietly pledged part of her salary to soccer-centered charities around the world, worked with the ACLU, partnered with the Seattle-area Boys and Girls Clubs and served as an ambassador for Athlete Ally, which opposes homophobia in sports. After the Carr fire ravaged her hometown of Redding, Calif., in 2018, she raised more than $150,000 in less than two weeks to help those affected.

“Megan Rapinoe is one of the most important players in women’s soccer history and a personality like no other,” said U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski, who also coached Rapinoe for two seasons with the Reign. “She has produced so many memorable moments that will be remembered for a very long time. But her impact on people as a human being may be even more important.”

She has also courted — even embraced — controversy, kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and waging a Twitter war with President Donald Trump during the 2019 World Cup, which ended with Rapinoe scoring a tournament-high six goals and being chosen the tournament’s outstanding player.

“She’s been an advocate for this team. She’s been a backbone for this team,” said Alex Morgan, co-captain of the World Cup team and Rapinoe’s teammate since 2010. “Whether it’s going through the equal pay fight, standing up for marginalized communities, she’s someone who is going to stand up for that when it’s not always a popular opinion.”

“She’s true to herself,” Morgan added. “That’s from the beginning when I met her until now. She says what she thinks, she means what she says. You have to love her for that.”

Nowhere is she loved moved than in the national team’s locker room, where she is surrounded by those who know her best. Defender Crystal Dunn broke down while describing Rapinoe as “an incredible person, human being, friend.”

“I just love her so much,” she said through the tears. “She’s somebody that I can call with the most random stuff. She’s so huge for the team, on and off the field.”

Rapinoe made her international debut in 2006, less than three weeks after her 21st birthday, but knee injuries three games apart wiped out most of the next three years, threatening her career and delaying her first national team start until 2009. She became a mainstay of the team a year later, with the U.S. losing just 14 of the 199 games in which she played.

“Megan has left an indelible mark on women’s soccer globally,” said Jill Ellis, the winningest coach in U.S. Soccer history. “One of the most skillful players to ever play, she will forever be one of the greats in our storied program.”

She’ll be forever remembered for the way she went out as well. By announcing her decision two weeks before the USWNT’s World Cup opener, Rapinoe, who informed Morgan of her decision in a group chat message Saturday morning, has signaled to her teammates what she’d like as a retirement gift.

“Well,” Morgan responded, “now we just have to win the whole damn thing.”