When it comes to the most famous examples of Black athletes with children following in their footsteps, you don’t often hear the kids talking about their parents so negatively. In fact, they often credit their parents for introducing them to athletics and thanking them for the wisdom they’ve shared along their journey.
When National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) superstar Trinity Rodman describes her relationship with her father, NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman, she doesn’t hold back on how absent he has been in her life.
During a recent appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Trinity detailed her complicated relationship with her father and how his lifestyle was not exactly conducive for raising children.
Trinity shared that she didn’t enjoy the time she spent with her father, saying, “My dad, he likes to be in control. So he would take us shopping, get us phones, do this, do that. ‘Oh, I’m going to take you and your brother shopping,’ and me and my brother are like, ‘We don’t want to go shopping, we just want money to go get In-N-Out after school with our friends.’”
Although she credits her mother Michelle Moyer as the person who is most responsible for raising her, there was a short time when she did live with her father. Unfortunately, it didn’t last for too long since she recalled him partying and bringing random women into the home.
Despite her unique upbringing, Trinity blossomed into a star soccer player winning NWSL Rookie of the Year in 2021 at the age of 19 and signing the largest contract in the history of the league in 2022.
But she couldn’t even enjoy some parts of being a star athlete, describing a moment when her father arrived at one of her games unannounced, which made her overwhelmed by his mere presence.
After assisting with the winning goal in the game, Trinity described being frustrated, sharing on the podcast, “The whistle blew and I was so mad, like, ‘You took this happy moment from me. You f****d with my head again. And then I walk over, and again there’s cameras everywhere. ... And all I did was cry.”
Watch Trinity describe her feelings below:
Although she never admits to hating her father, she states something that may be worse, saying on the podcast, “He’s not a dad. Maybe by blood, but nothing else.”
Currently 22 years old, Trinity has still been able to accomplish so much as a professional athlete, even “without” a dad. She is an Olympic gold medalist, an NWSL champion, a CONCACAF champion, and an NWSL Rookie of the Year.