Megan Rapinoe being named Sports Illustrated's 2019 Sportsperson of the Year, which was announced by the venerable sports magazine on Monday, was not so much a revolutionary act as it was an acknowledgment of Rapinoe as a revolutionary athlete.
The 34-year-old soccer star who led the U.S. Women's National team to a World Cup triumph in 2019 was born and raised and Redding, and her cut her teeth in elite soccer in Elk Grove. Since then she's rocked the world.
Her selection by SI was only the fourth time the magazine had chosen one woman as the most notable athlete of a calendar year since it began presenting this award in 1954. Rapinoe is the first openly gay athlete to to be selected by SI for its top prize.
Even though women's tennis legend Billie Jean King shared the award with a man in 1972, Rapinoe's undisputed recognition puts her in the same category as legendary sports revolutionaries such as Arthur Ashe, Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell � athletes who were not only great in competition, but they risked their careers to stand for something.
In Rapinoe's case, she has been one of the few white athletes who has taken a knee during the national anthem. This underscored her solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, the former 49ers quarterback who knelt to protest police brutality against African Americans. This act of defiance cost Kaepernick dearly, as he has not been able to secure a job in the NFL for three years.
Many notable black athletes have remained silent on Kaepernick, but not Rapinoe.
"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," she said in 2016. "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."
Rapinoe was the leader among women who sued the United States Soccer Federation for gender discrimination.
"We are such a proud and strong and defiant group of women," Rapinoe said of her teammates seeking equality. "We have done exactly what we set out to do. We did what we wanted to do. We say what we feel, all of us, really. I know my voice is sometimes louder, but in the meeting rooms and the conversations everybody is in this together."
At U.S. games during the World Cup, fans would break out into "equal pay" chants. Rapinoe was open in her love for Sue Bird, one of America's finest female basketball players. The two posed together in an ESPN "Body Issue."
And Rapinoe was the most indispensable player for the U.S. women in the World Cup, scoring key goals and punctuating them with her trademark goal celebration: She would run toward the galleries of cheering fans, stop, pose and open her in a joyous, flamboyant gesture that has become her trademark.
She did it all while pushing back on shrill tweets from President Donald Trump. "Psssh, I'm not going to the f ___ White House," she said. And while many politicians and powerful people cowered when Trump attacked them on Twitter, Rapinoe stood firm.
"I meant with all the inflection and all of the sort of attitude that I gave with it, I meant all of it and every word of it," she said.
Did we mention she cut her teeth in Elk Grove? Did we mention that she was raised in Redding, a conservative enclave in California where Trump actually did well with voters? Did we mention she scored six goals in the World Cup? She won the Golden Ball at the World Cup for top player and the Golden Boot for top goal scorer. Last week she won the Women's Ballon d'Or, awarded to the best player in the world for the year.
She is a star and a revolutionary. She is cool under pressure on the soccer pitch and fiery off of it. She stands for excellence and principle, a rare combination in American athletes.
That she started her journey in the soccer leagues of Elk Grove makes the story even sweeter. Congratulations, Megan Rapinoe. You've made all of us proud.
