Did you stick around for Megan Rapinoe’s post-match interview following the United States’ Women’s World Cup win over the Netherlands on Sunday?
(No? You weren’t glued to your couch, crying happy tears into your penguin blanket? Just me?)
If you saw it, you may have heard Rapinoe wish a happy birthday to some named Brian at the end of the interview. Turns out Brian is her older brother, who was watching from California rather than from the stadium in France as he finishes out a prison sentence with San Diego’s Male Community Reentry Program, an organization that allows inmates to finish out the last year of their sentence outside of prison.
This story from ESPN dives into the sibling relationship between Megan and Brian and explains how his legal troubles have prevented him from attending all three of his sister’s World Cup appearances. Per the story, he has been in and out of incarceration since he was 15 years old when he brought meth to school.
Through those struggles, Brian explains that though Megan looked up to him growing up, he now looks up to his little sister.
“I was her hero, but now — there’s no question — she is mine.”
