Megan Rapinoe Responds to Carli Lloyd’s Apology While Highlighting USWNT’s Past Struggles: “It Was Nuts”

Almost four years. That’s how long it has been since Carli Lloyd announced her retirement, but her speech at her induction to the US Soccer Hall of Fame last week was a transformative experience; Not just for her, but also for her teammates as she tried to mend the cracked bridges. “I operated like an emotionless machine,” she said while explaining that was the only way she could think of trying to survive a cut-throat environment. But for the USWNT icon, her cold behavior had also cut deep into her family ties.

She apologized to her parents and siblings for missing anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, and their important milestones. These absences started to take place around 2003 when Lloyd began working with personal trainer James Galanis. She stopped working with him in 2020, and in recent years, she has mentioned the wide-ranging influence he had over her life, and that included cutting her off from her family.

“Was it worth allowing a trainer into my life that over time drove a wedge between me and my family for over a decade? Was it worth putting my husband second? Was it worth being so obsessive, so intense every day of my soccer career? Was it worth putting off starting a family?” she questioned herself during the speech. In the end, the answer was still a yes. She loved winning. It came at a price, and she paid it. Now, just days later, after Lloyd opened up, her former teammate Megan Rapinoe has stepped in not only to accept the apology but also to sympathize with her. After all, she has been through a similar experience with her soccer career. On her ‘A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe’ podcast on YouTube, she stated: 

“It was crazy. There was really a very long stretch of time. I mean honestly until maybe like 2015,16, 17, 18, whatever the difference was like you’re making a living playing soccer about 25 of us or you’re like making 30 to $70,000 playing in the league […] And the difference really was like you’re in every single camp doing every single practice and just being the 24th player and not being the 23. You’re doing all the same things, you’re doing everything the same except playing.”

Rapinoe then shared how it was a single person’s opinion that decided who would be the 24th player. Hence, it was a competitive environment, and she understands why Carli Lloyd did what she did. “So it was really it was really crazy and I totally understand the competition part,” Rapinoe shared.

“It takes a toll. You have to pay for all of the things that make you great. Being out of it and being able to self-reflect, it sounds like Carli is self-reflecting  and I just encourage her with everything that I have to like continue to do that and continue to be more vulnerable and really ask herself you know those hard questions and get into it because it was nuts. I wouldn’t change it for the world. I loved playing, but it was absolutely nuts,” continued the former Lyon star.

She clearly seems to understand why her former national teammate had to take the hard way around the team. But that’s not where it ends.

Carli Lloyd did what she felt was ‘necessary’, says Megan Rapinoe

Megan Rapinoe didn’t stop at highlighting the challenges she and the other players were forced to face back in the day. One of them was the constant fear that a teammate with whom they shared great chemistry might end up playing the same position. “I mean honestly, you just prayed to God that the person you clicked with and had a connection with as a friend didn’t play your position,” she shared in her conversation with Sue Bird.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case for the 2019 Ballon d’Or winner, as she recalled her two best friends, Tobin Heath and Christen Press. While Press played the same position as her, Tobin was on the right, which helped ease the competitive tension. Yet, for her, having that emotional connection was non-negotiable—she needed to be around people she could relate to, lean on, and vent to in such a high-pressure environment.

“I needed the community, the connection. I needed to show my vulnerability, I had to do that,” she said. But what would the end result be if she didn’t have it? “I don’t think I would have survived otherwise,” bluntly remarked the NWSL icon before making another point in Carli Lloyd’s favor.

“Obviously, Carli did it this way, and it sounds like she’s maybe asking herself if that was necessary,” concluded Megan Rapinoe, even though Lloyd was a very successful name in the world.

Who would have thought that a simple “To my teammates… I’m sorry I wasn’t always able to give you all of me,” statement would have opened such truths? Share your views in the comments with us.