In the run-up to the Seattle Reign’s crucial encounter with NWSL league leaders Washington Spirit, midfielder and USWNT star Megan Rapinoe indicated she would repeat the trend she started last weekend and peacefully protest during the national anthem. But she never got the chance to do that.
That’s because the Spirit played the national anthem early, while both teams were still in their locker rooms.
Soon after the anthem was played following a lengthy weather delay, and with fans of both teams chanting “let her kneel,” Lynch released a statement to the press confirming that he ordered the Star-Spangled Banner to be played early so that Rapinoe wouldn’t have the opportunity to protest. In his six paragraph statement insisting he wasn’t trying to make the evening about him, Lynch made it all about himself by accusing Rapinoe of being “disrespectful” and “insulting our military and our fans.”
Washington Spirit prevents Megan Rapinoe taking a knee during national anthem by playing anthem ahead of schedule. pic.twitter.com/Oc54ljhFe1
— Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) September 8, 2016
There are a number of problems with Lynch’s statement. There’s his misunderstanding of the national anthem’s history. There’s also his characterization of Rapinoe’s exercising of her First Amendment rights as a direct insult toward the military. To say nothing of his referring to opposition to institutional racism and police brutality as a “personal issue,” rather than a societal one.
But more than anything else, he put his own organization and the entire league in a difficult spot. For one thing, the Spirit now face potential sanctions from the league for breaking pre-match protocol. And given the Reign’s public statement of support earlier in the day, Lynch has effectively put every other team on the spot for how they’re going to deal with anthem protests and drawn a line in the sand, aping George W. Bush’s with-us-or-against-us speech 15 years ago.
It also likely made for an uncomfortable working environment for some employees, as evidenced by their social media team member’s apparent I Quit message.
Speaking of which, it’s unclear who in the organization knew what was going to happen last night, but it appears that the players, at least, were not informed.
Just spoke w a player on the Washington Spirit. They had no idea the nat’l anthem would be played early. “Caught totally off guard by that.”