{"id":481387,"date":"2026-02-21T06:33:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T06:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/481387\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T06:33:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T06:33:21","slug":"megan-rapinoe-sue-bird-on-changing-sports-forever-doing-the-right-thing-and-life-off-the-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/481387\/","title":{"rendered":"Megan Rapinoe & Sue Bird on Changing Sports Forever, Doing the Right Thing, and Life Off the Field"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated5 min read<\/p>\n

Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe are unbothered. There are a number of things the couple could be fazed by throughout our hour-long Zoom call on this dreary, damp evening in early March\u2014like the hours they just spent running around town in the torrential downpour that I now see and hear through the large windows of their Manhattan apartment, or any of the infamous moments from their respective careers that we talk about later\u2014but they seem entirely unrattled. By everything.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s their pro-athlete backgrounds that have instilled such coolness. After all, when you\u2019re a retired WNBA superstar like Bird and former elite soccer pro like Rapinoe, with six Olympic gold medals between you, how could you be shaken by something as trivial as the weather\u2014or, in Rapinoe\u2019s case, Donald Trump posting that \u201cthe USA is going to Hell!!!\u201d because you missed a penalty kick back in the 2023 World Cup? <\/p>\n

Actually, Rapinoe might be more bothered by the storm clouds than she ever was about the other thing. \u201cThat says everything about the person he is,\u201d she says with a shrug. \u201cBut I think it also says a lot about who I am, the fact that he was trying to go after me.\u201d Rapinoe\u2019s public protests of Trump date back to 2019, and the LGBTQ+ advocate has drawn his ire many times on social media in the years since. His attack, she says, gave her a certain confidence. \u201cI\u2019m doing the right thing,\u201d she says of what it revealed to her then.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

During our conversation, it becomes obvious that the right thing, for Bird and Rapinoe, means challenging the status quo in their industries. It\u2019s work that began during their playing days. Before their retirements, in 2022 (for Bird) and 2023 (for Rapinoe), the pair infused activism into their careers. You may remember Rapinoe as being the first white athlete to kneel during the national anthem in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick in 2016. Or, if you\u2019re a real WNBA fan, you may know that as a vice president of the players union Bird ushered in an era in which players were allowed to participate in social-justice movements on the court.<\/p>\n

Speaking up is not without its risks\u2014when Rapinoe took a knee, the backlash from sponsors and critics was swift\u2014but both women are adamant they don\u2019t see it that way. \u201cThese are the things I believe in and care about,\u201d says Rapinoe. \u201cIf I feel like an injustice is happening, or if there\u2019s somewhere where we can lend our voice to grow women\u2019s sports, that\u2019s who we are and how we live, and the things that we really want to spend our time doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bird adds: \u201cA lot of the things that we talk about are because of some form of firsthand experience. And so, to Megan\u2019s point, yeah, it doesn\u2019t feel like risk-reward. You feel like you\u2019re just speaking your truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple met at the 2016 Rio Olympics and have been engaged for five years. Like any good team, their individual strengths complement the whole. Bird, forty-four, is quick to fill lulls in conversation that Rapinoe, thirty-nine, seems content to sit in, and Bird always has something to add to what her fianc\u00e9e shares. When asked what people would be surprised to know about them, Bird guesses it\u2019s how \u201cboring\u201d and \u201clow-key\u201d they really are; Rapinoe bluntly declares that \u201cwhatever it is, they\u2019re not knowing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This back-and-forth is familiar if you\u2019ve listened to their podcast, A Touch More. What started during the pandemic on Instagram Live has evolved into a full-fledged media business. Their mission: to promote and empower women\u2019s sports, showing the \u201cvibrant, dynamic, beautiful world\u201d that it is. \u201cIt\u2019s about putting the nuance around women\u2019s sports that traditionally has not been there, that ultimately perpetuates detrimental stereotypes to women, to queer people, to Black women who play sports,\u201d says Rapinoe.<\/p>\n

\"e\"Andre D. Wagner<\/p>\n

On Rapinoe, left: Jacket and skirt by Bottega Veneta; Shoes by Camperlab; Socks by Comme Si; necklace by Alexis Bittar; ear cuff and earring by Chrishabana; ring by Jeblanc; Cartier bracelet, Rapinoe\u2019s own. On Bird: Sweatshirt by Officine Ge\u0301ne\u0301rale; trousers by Bottega Veneta; skirt (worn as belt) by Jane Wade; Shoes by Camper; Necklace by Mateo; Ring by Chrishabana.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s serious stuff, but Rapinoe and Bird\u2014through conversations with each other and fellow athletes\u2014make it digestible. Episodes are light, fresh, and often funny. (The podcast\u2019s Bicker of the Week series might be the healthiest way to air petty grievances against your partner that I\u2019ve ever witnessed.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s this same desire to uplift and provide nuance to women\u2019s sports that brought the pair to their first gigs as television producers. Last year, they announced the forthcoming TV show Playing the Field, a scripted adaptation of queer romance novelist Meryl Wilsner\u2019s Cleat Cute, which follows a love story between two teammates on a women\u2019s soccer team. <\/p>\n

For Rapinoe, the appeal was in the softness of the narrative. \u201cIt\u2019s gonna be a great way to fictionally view women\u2019s sports in a way that isn\u2019t like, \u2018Oh, this is how this is so hard, and this is why this is so hard,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cYou\u2019re gonna get their full lives. It\u2019s a pro team. They live in New Orleans. They\u2019re going out. They have friendships. They are hooking up. There\u2019s life happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

If it sounds like the couple is stretched between many projects, it\u2019s all in service of one goal\u2014to leave behind a different legacy in women\u2019s sports. One that isn\u2019t just about the record books. And while they\u2019ll spend the rest of their lives focused on it, Rapinoe and Bird are both adamant that they\u2019re championing for a change they want to see being made now. In fact, Bird says, it\u2019s already creeping in.<\/p>\n

A half-decade or so ago, Bird says she fielded the question about where she hoped women\u2019s basketball would be in fifteen years. \u201cAnd my answer,\u201d she recalls, \u201cwas something to the effect of, \u2018I hope the older players come across real disgruntled that they didn\u2019t make the same money that the current athletes are making.\u2019 I was like, \u2018I hope I\u2019m fifty-five and mad that I never had a million-dollar contract in the WNBA,\u2019 because that means what we\u2019re doing worked.\u201d They got there ahead of schedule. As she quips: \u201cI\u2019m only forty-four and it\u2019s already happening, and I\u2019m not disgruntled about it, which is great.\u201d<\/p>\n

If disgruntlement isn\u2019t their thing, regret certainly isn\u2019t, either. Not even when taking stands has made them public targets for anti-woke backlash. Instead, they have the kind of peace of mind that comes from doing things you believe in\u2014at least, that\u2019s the case when it comes to their work on and off the court and pitch. Bird admits she\u2019s still haunted by one jean-skirt fashion faux pas she made during a tunnel walk in the early aughts.<\/p>\n

Rapinoe makes a noble attempt to spin Bird\u2019s lingering embarrassment into an optimistic life lesson. \u201cPut yourself out there, try stuff,\u201d she says. It\u2019s the kind of silver-lining-finding sportsmanship you\u2019d want from a teammate\u2014the kind you\u2019re even luckier to find in a partner. <\/p>\n

Adds Rapinoe: \u201cThat\u2019s how you learn to be in the world, and that\u2019s how the world can start to make sense to you. And I feel like sports did that for us in so many different ways.\u201d If you don\u2019t like it, well, they can\u2019t be bothered.<\/p>\n

Opening image: On Rapinoe, left: Jacket and skirt by Bottega Veneta; necklace by Alexis Bittar; ear cuff and earring by Chrishabana; ring by Jeblanc; Cartier bracelet, Rapinoe\u2019s own. On Bird: Sweatshirt by Officine Ge\u0301ne\u0301rale; trousers by Bottega Veneta; skirt (worn as belt) by Jane Wade; ring by Chrishabana.<\/p>\n

Photographed by Andre D. Wagner
Styled by Alfonso Fern\u00e1ndez Navas
Hair by Kevin Ryan for Smashbox Cosmetics
Makeup by Vincent Oquendo for Chanel
VP of Video: Jason Ikeler
Directors of Video: Amanda Kabbabe, Kathryn Rice
Senior Director of Social Video: Mia Lardiere
Senior Shooter\/Editor: Sam Miller
<\/p>\n

\"Lettermark\"<\/p>\n

Trishna Rikhy is the Associate Style Commerce Editor at Esquire, which means she literally online shops for a living. If it\u2019s new and noteworthy, she\u2019s on it; if it\u2019s taking over your For You Page right now, it was on hers three weeks ago. Trishna has a healthy love for staple pieces, but what truly excites her is things that are cool, niche, and buzzworthy. Trishna has written for magazines including Vogue, PAPER, and V MAN. Expect only the very best style recommendations from her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"5 min read Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe are unbothered. There are a number of things the couple…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[221995,1240,221994,3179,873,218423,221993,99,434],"class_list":["post-481387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-collection-mavericks-of-sports","tag-content-type-feature","tag-contentid-3cbb7ecb-c404-4746-a843-e09abd05d386","tag-displaytype-long-form-article","tag-locale-us","tag-read_time-6","tag-shorttitle-sue-bird-and-megan-rapinoe-dont-stress","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}