Trinity Rodman on Saturday immortalized herself in internet lore after her Washington Spirit squad lost the NWSL Championship against the Orlando Pride.
The Spirit fell to the Pride in a physical 1-0 match for the 2024 NWSL title at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Despite dealing with a lingering back injury, Rodman played the full 90 minutes.
The Spirit forward, however, failed to find an equalizer to answer Pride striker Barbra Banda’s 37-minute goal. Once the final whistle was blown, the CBS broadcast showed a defeated Rodman sitting on the grass.
After making eye contact with someone off-camera, Rodman suddenly put on a fake smile and raised her two thumbs up in a show of humor during what was surely a painful moment. The short clip went viral on social media and turned Dennis Rodman’s daughter into an instant meme.
Trinity Rodman is gonna get meme’d for this 😂😭 pic.twitter.com/UfFBS91MQu
— 🍁Allie🍁 (@Allie874) November 24, 2024
It was a pretty wholesome moment given how much pain Trinity Rodman was in throughout the match. She fought valiantly but admitted after the game that she was far from full strength due to her back injury.
“I’m not gonna make an excuse,” said Rodman, via ESPN’s Jeff Kassouf. “It’s not hiding the fact that my back’s not feeling great,” “I decided to stay in the game. I could have pulled myself out. That’s not an excuse but I wasn’t the Trin that I wanted to be today.”
It was not hard to see to the pain, both physical and mental, behind Rodman’s meme-worthy gesture. That’s probably why the moment resonated with fans, who all know the feeling of having to smile through some of life’s toughest ordeals.
