Washington Spirit Move National Anthem To Prevent Megan Rapinoe From ‘Disrespecting’ It With Protest

Last week, Seattle Reign soccer star Megan Rapinoe followed in Colin Kaepernick’s footsteps and protested the national anthem by taking a knee on the field because she didn’t feel the flag “protected all of her liberties.”

Today, the Washington Spirit prevented Rapinoe from protesting the anthem by playing the anthem ahead of schedule.

Here’s the statement released by the Spirit in which they explain how they didn’t want their fans to be subjected “to the disrespect such an act would represent”

It’s interesting how the Spirit felt like they didn’t want Rapinoe to hijack the game with her protest but somehow brought much more attention to the situation by releasing this press release.