Hope Solo Says She Didn't Talk to Now-Husband for a Year After He Told Her He Loved Her

Soccer star Hope Solo is sharing new details about the once-rocky relationship she and her husband, former NFL star Jerramy Stevens, had at the start of their marriage.

Solo, who was the goalkeeper for the U.S. women’s soccer team from 2000 to 2016, married Stevens, 39, in 2012, but their relationship was shrouded in controversy when their wedding came just one day after the NFL star was arrested on suspicion of allegedly assaulting his now-wife.

In a new interview with Elle, Solo, 37, explained that for a year before they tied the knot, the couple did not even speak after Stevens confessed his love for her while out to dinner in Los Angeles.

“I didn’t know what to say,” Solo told Elle. “So I said, ‘F— you,’ and we didn’t talk for a year.”

After reconciling, the pair dated for two months and then got married — but the happy day was filled with controversy due to the events that transpired the night before.

“We thought everyone could just be happy for us, it was dumb,” the Dancing with the Stars alum said of having a group of people over to their home the night before the wedding.

According to Solo, “our two a—— brothers, basically, get into this argument.” When police arrived, Solo had a bloody elbow and Stevens was arrested under the assumption that he had beaten his soon-to-be wife.

Stevens was released without charges, and the couple married the following day — which Solo called “the most triumphant day.”

The drama wasn’t over for Solo though. In June 2014 she was arrested on suspicion of allegedly assaulting her half-sister and nephew.

The soccer star pleaded not guilty, and charges were dropped in January 2015. However, she faced trouble with the law again a week later, when Stevens was arrested for driving drunk in a U.S. soccer team van with Solo in the passenger seat. (Stevens pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts.)

Solo was suspended for 30 days from the U.S. soccer team, which she described to PEOPLE in 2015 as “a painful year.“

“I almost lost my career,” she told PEOPLE. “It’s been traumatic and embarrassing.”

She also admitted she hit “rock bottom,” and she began seeing a therapist for the first time in her life.

“Whenever I used to have any kind of disappointment or struggle, I turned to soccer,” said Solo. “But it wasn’t working this time around.”

Solo eventually returned to the team and helped win America’s third World Cup championship since 1991 at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The soccer star has since retreated to a Seattle home with Stevens, which she described to PEOPLE in 2015 as a much different and calmer life for her.

“I know people probably think we party all the time,” Solo said, “but we don’t really go out that much. And when we do, we end up going to the movies. We’re pretty boring people.”