Former United States women’s national team captain Carli Lloyd was a guest on the new CBS show “Kickin’ It” with Kate Abdo, Clint Dempsey, Mo Edu and Charlie Davies. During the episode Lloyd shared why she refused to kneel at the Olympics and conversations she had with Megan Rapinoe back in 2016.
The cast of the show also had a short moment to discuss their reactions to Lloyd’s answers after she had left.
Two of the big questions that Abdo asked Lloyd were why she refused to take a knee before the bronze medal game vs. Australia and the feelings between her and Rapinoe.
Here were Lloyd’s responses.
Why Carli Lloyd didn’t kneel at 2020 Tokyo Olympics
To provide some context, the USWNT were kneeling before each kickoff at the Olympics. They weren’t kneeling during the national anthem.
The Premier League players in England were also kneeling before games as a sign of solidarity and to protest racism and white supremacy.
Fans were surprised to see only 10 of the 11 USWNT players kneel before the game vs. Australia. Lloyd was the only player to remain standing.
"I just felt that we had done enough of the kneeling and I just wanted to stand for my last World Championship game."
On tonight's episode of Kickin' It, @kate_abdo asks Carli Lloyd about her decision not to kneel in at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. pic.twitter.com/juefQnbviD— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 18, 2023
“I knew that was going to be my last world championship game, so I wanted to stand,” Lloyd said. “I had kneeled all the other times and for me that was just (focused) on playing the game.”
Abdo asked Lloyd if there was a deeper reason for her standing to which Lloyd said she just wanted to stand for that game.
When asked if she would do it again Lloyd said she would.
The cast reacted to Lloyd’s comments after she had left with Davies being the most critical of Lloyd's answers.
"You don't get to kneel one time? What is 10 seconds of your life to kneel down to show you're together with your teammates."
The Kickin' It crew sat down after their interview with Carli Lloyd for immediate reactions. pic.twitter.com/q7NrHbOtCL— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 19, 2023
Carli Lloyd says Megan Rapinoe was a distraction
The other burning question for Lloyd’s cameo was the relationship between her and Rapinoe. Fans who have followed the USWNT over the years know that Rapinoe and Lloyd were opposites.
Rapinoe was one of if not the loudest voices and advocates for equal pay, LGBTQ+ and Black Lives Matter while Lloyd typically strayed away from the topics.
In 2016 Rapinoe joined former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s protests of kneeling during the national anthem which caused plenty of discussions and controversy.
Abdo asked Lloyd what it was like between her and Rapinoe on the national team to which Lloyd said Rapinoe was a distraction.
"It was almost like this Carli vs. Megan and Megan stands for this and Carli stands for this." @CarliLloyd talks about her conversations with Megan Rapinoe back in 2016 when Pinoe began kneeling in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick. pic.twitter.com/TkU1xgdltE
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 19, 2023
“What she was doing was distracting our team and was distracting others to play,” Lloyd said.
Davies asked if Lloyd’s relationship with Rapinoe changed from that moment in 2016 to which Lloyd said that things “stayed the same.”
Rapinoe and Lloyd are both retired now with the latter sometimes making appearances for FOX Soccer.
Together the pair won two Women’s World Cups.
