Sophie Cunningham as homecoming queen in her football uniform is must-see throwback

Not many casual sports fans knew who Sophie Cunningham was until this week.

That all changed when the Indiana Fever Caitlin Clark enforcer took revenge on the Connecticut Sun's Jacy Sheldon with a hard foul late in the game that almost led to a WNBA brawl.

Since then, the new Fever fan-favorite, who was acquired in an offseason trade from the Phoenix Mercury, where the former McDonald's All-American is also an on-air analyst for the Phoenix Suns, has gained 660k TikTok followers since the incident and continues to lean into her WWE heel persona.

In a TikTok video yesterday, the 28-year-old Missouri native lip-synced, "can't keep my hands to myself," in an obvious nod to the viral foul that got her ejected. She captioned it, "it’s a joke… the sound was too fitting! happy game day." The Fever lost to to the Golden State Valkyries afterwards in front of an electric San Francisco crowd, 88-77.

Speaking of Missouri, Cunningham has mixed beauty and braun throughout her entire upbringing, and no photo better encapsulates that vibe than this amazing throwback photo as part of the homecoming court wearing her football uniform.

Cunningham was the kicker for the Rock Bridge football team, filling in during their playoff run after the starting kicker went down with an ACL injury, admitting at the time, "I was so nervous."

The Missouri Tigers standout, where she was first-team All-SEC for three years, also got her taekwondo black belt when she was only 6 years old.

Sophie!

Taekwondo Black Belt, at 6 years old.

Always been that GIRL, always will be… pic.twitter.com/hMXRo38u3U
— Sophie Cunningham Fan Club (@SophieC_FanClub) June 18, 2025

Needless to say, Cunningham has the perfect background for this moment.

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