Megan Rapinoe hit back at Christian critics after she suggested her soccer injury was "proof" God doesn't exist.
During Rapinoe's last game of her professional career last November, the soccer player suffered an injury to her Achilles and suggested it was proof that there was no God.
“I’m not a religious person or anything and if there was a God, this is proof that there isn’t,” Rapinoe, who played for OL Reign, said at the time.
The soccer player discussed criticism over her remark during a Tuesday appearance on the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast. Rapinoe referred to herself as a "controversial figure" and said she was "sad" about her injury.
“I’m just thinking about my teammates coming over and — of course, it’s sad, but it’s also like — I don’t know, it’s kind of just like life,” Rapinoe said. “We want these perfect stories, and I’m like a controversial figure and having people low-key celebrate it. But then also be so disingenuous about it that that part is kinda funny, too. I’m like, wow, you guys are in a special place in hell that you’re celebrating this.”
Host Pablo Torre referenced her infamous remark at a press conference following her final game and said critics were "disingenuously furious" at Rapinoe.
In response, Rapinoe said "somebody needs to check on the Christians, cause they're not okay."
The former soccer player suggested Christian critics didn't understand her joke.
“Don’t act like you’re surprised by me making this joke about what happened or finding a dig,” Rapinoe said. “Who’s it at? God, myself, religion, the world? I don’t know. It’s just funny.”
Rapinoe was injured early in her final game against Gotham FC and said she was going to get the "Aaron Rodgers treatment," a reference to the New York Jet who similarly injured his Achilles tendon.
“I wasn’t overly emotional about it,” Rapinoe said of the injury at the time “I mean, f---ing yeeted my Achilles in the sixth minute in my last game ever in the literal championship game. … I guess I just rode until the wheels came right off.”
In 2016, Rapinoe refused to stand for the national anthem and instead opted to take a knee in the same manner as former San Francisco 49ers NFL player Colin Kaepernick.
Rapinoe said she would “probably never” put her hand over her heart or sing the national anthem again in 2019. She said she was a “walking protest when it comes to the Trump administration” because of “everything I stand for," per Yahoo Sports.
