Has a Woman Ever Been Drafted in the NFL?

No, a woman has never been drafted in the NFL. However, that doesn’t mean that women can’t play football! In fact, there are plenty of women’s football leagues around the world. So if you’re a woman who loves football, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t play!

The History of the NFL Draft

The NFL draft is an annual event in which the NFL teams select eligible college football players. It is the primary mechanism for player acquisition in the NFL. The first NFL draft was held in 1936, and it has been held every year since. In the early years of the draft, teams mostly drafted players from their own local areas.

The first NFL draft

The first NFL draft was held on February 8, 1936, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia. It lasted for only six rounds and there were no trades allowed. Ninety names were put into a hat and the team owners took turns picking them out, one by one. The first player chosen was Jay Berwanger from the University of Chicago. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles but decided not to play professional football, instead becoming a successful businessman.

The second player chosen was Sammy Baugh from Texas Christian University. He went on to have a Hall of Fame career with the Washington Redskins. Ken Strong, a running back from NYU, was the third player chosen. He also had a successful career in the NFL, playing for both the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Of the three players chosen in that first NFL draft, only Baugh actually played in the league. In total, only 17 of the 90 players drafted ended up playing in at least one NFL game.

The modern NFL draft

The modern NFL draft began in 1936, when the league held its first ever draft of college players. Since then, the draft has been held every year, with the exception of 1942, due to World War II.

In recent years, the NFL draft has become a major event, with fans tuning in from all over the world to see which players their favorite teams will select. The first round of the draft is now televised live on ESPN, and the entire event is covered extensively by both ESPN and NFL Network.

Historically, only men have been drafted into the NFL. However, there have been a few women who have played in the league, including San Francisco 49ers linebacker Jennifer Welter and Carolina Panthers safety raven gill.

Women in the NFL

The National Football League is a male-dominated sport. There has only ever been one woman who has played in the NFL: Lauren Silberman, who played in an exhibition game in 2013. Since the NFL’s inception in 1920, there have been no women who have been drafted into the league.

Women in the NFL today

Although women have been playing football in the United States since the late 1800s, it wasn’t until the 1990s that women began to take part in organized football at the collegiate and professional levels. Today, there are thousands of women playing football at all levels of the sport.

The National Football League (NFL) is the highest level of professional football in the United States. The NFL has never had a woman player, but that could change in the future. In April 2014, Jennifer Welter became the first woman to play in a preseason game for an NFL team when she suited up for the Indianapolis Colts.

Welter’s historic accomplishment brought increased attention to the issue of women in the NFL. Welter was not drafted by an NFL team, but she made history just by stepping onto the field. If a woman were to be drafted by an NFL team, it would be a major milestone for both women and sports.

Women who have been drafted in the NFL

In the history of the National Football League (NFL), only one woman has ever been drafted. Lauren Silberman was selected in the seventh and final round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. However, she never played a game in the NFL as she was released before the season started.

The NFL has had a few women who have worked as Assistant Coaches, most notably Jen Welter who served as an assistant coaching intern for the Arizona Cardinals during the 2015 preseason. She is believed to be the first woman to hold such a position in NFL history. In 2019, Katie Sowers became the second woman to be hired as a full-time assistant coach, when she joined Kliff Kingsbury’s staff with the Arizona Cardinals as an offensive assistant coach.

The Future of the NFL Draft

In recent years, the NFL draft has been moving towards a more progressive direction. In 2015, the NFL implemented a new policy that allowed players to declare early for the draft without having to complete four years of college eligibility. This policy opened the door for players like Saquon Barkley and Leonard Fournette to declare early and be drafted in the first round. In 2020, the NFL changed the draft order so that the team with the worst record would be guaranteed the first pick. This new system was designed to discourage tanking.

Will a woman ever be drafted in the NFL?

There has been talk for years about the possibility of a woman playing in the NFL, but it has yet to happen. In 2015, Jen Welter became the first woman to coach in the NFL when she was hired by the Arizona Cardinals as a training camp/preseason intern coach working with inside linebackers. She made history again in 2016 when she became the first woman to coach in a regular season game. Could a woman be drafted into the NFL someday? It’s possible, but there are no women currently playing at the collegiate level who are considered to be good enough prospects to be drafted.

The NFL has been working hard to diversify its ranks in recent years and has been very supportive of women working in football. In addition to Welter, Sarah Thomas became the league’s first full-time female referee in 2015 and Katie Sowers is currently an offensive assistant coach for the San Francisco 49ers, making her the second full-time female coach in NFL history. With more opportunities opening up for women in football, it’s certainly possible that we could see a woman drafted into the NFL at some point in the future.

The possibility of a woman being drafted in the NFL

Amidst all of the talk about the future of football, one of the more popular topics is whether or not a woman will ever be drafted into the NFL.

The simple answer is that it is highly unlikely. There are currently no women playing in the NFL, and only a handful who have even been signed to practice squads. The reason for this is because the game of football is extremely physically demanding, and women simply are not able to compete with men at that level.

That being said, there are a number of reasons why it is still worth discussing the possibility of a woman being drafted into the NFL.

First, the NFL has been increasingly inclusive over the past few years, hiring female officials and broadening its appeal to different demographic groups. If the NFL can continue to grow its popularity among women, then it stands to reason that eventually there could be enough interest in having a female player in the league.

Second, we have seen other professional sports leagues (namely, the NBA and WNBA) have success with having both male and female players competing at the highest levels. While it may not be realistic to expect that women will ever be able to compete with men on equal footing in football, perhaps there could be some type of co-ed league where both men and women play together.

Lastly, it is worth noting that there are a number of exceptional female athletes who could potentially excel at football if given the opportunity. For example, two-time Olympic gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has expressed interest in playing football after she retire from track and field. It’s possible that as more women become interested in playing football, eventually one could emerge as talented enough to make an NFL roster.

While it remains unlikely that a woman will be drafted into the NFL anytime soon, it is still an intriguing topic to consider given the league’s increasing inclusion of women and the potential for talented female athletes to emerge in football.