Trinity Rodman created an unforgettable internet moment on Saturday, even amidst a difficult loss for her Washington Spirit squad in the NWSL Championship against the Orlando Pride.
The Spirit fought hard but ultimately fell 1-0 to the Pride in a physical battle for the 2024 NWSL title at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Despite dealing with a lingering back injury, Rodman showed her grit by playing the full 90 minutes, giving everything she had on the field.
Unfortunately for the Spirit, the equalizer never came. Pride striker Barbra Banda found the back of the net in the 37th minute, and the Spirit struggled to break down Orlando’s defense. When the final whistle blew, the camera captured a poignant scene—a visibly defeated Rodman sitting alone on the grass, her exhaustion and disappointment evident.
It was in that raw moment that Rodman quickly turned a tough situation into something memorable. After making eye contact with someone off-camera, she suddenly put on a forced, over-the-top smile, raising her two thumbs up in a gesture that screamed both sarcasm and resilience. It was a light-hearted move in a clearly difficult moment, and the clip immediately took social media by storm, turning Dennis Rodman’s daughter into an instant meme.
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The moment struck a chord with fans, not just because of its humor but also because it was a very human reaction to adversity. Rodman had fought through the pain all game, determined to help her team, and afterward, she managed to bring a little levity to what was undoubtedly a painful experience.
Rodman later spoke to the media, admitting that she had not been at her best due to the back injury she’d been nursing. “I’m not gonna make an excuse,” she told 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 clear to anyone watching that the pain—both physical and emotional—was weighing heavily on her. Perhaps that is why her meme-worthy gesture resonated so deeply with fans.
Everyone knows what it feels like to have to put on a brave face in the midst of disappointment.
Trinity Rodman’s thumbs-up was a universal symbol for smiling through the struggle, and it became an emblem of resilience that resonated across the internet.
