Are There Any Female NFL Players?
Contents
No. There are no female NFL players because the NFL is a male-only league. The same is true for the NBA, NHL, and MLB.
Introduction
Whether or not there are any female NFL players is a hotly contested topic. Some people believe that women are not physically capable of playing in the NFL, while others believe that there is no reason why women cannot compete at the same level as men.
There has never been a woman who has played in a regular season NFL game, but there have been a handful of women who have competed in preseason games. In recent years, a number of women have also been hired as assistant coaches and officials, although they are not allowed on the field during games.
The debate over whether or not women should be allowed to play in the NFL is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. However, as more and more women become involved in coaching and officiating, it seems inevitable that eventually there will be female players in the league.
Women in Professional Football
It is a widely accepted fact that women can play football just as well as men. In recent years, there have been a few women who have been signed to NFL teams. However, these women have not been given an equal opportunity to compete.
The Lingerie Football League
The Lingerie Football League (LFL) is a women’s 7-on-7 tackle American football league, created in 2009. The league pits lingerie-clad women against each other in an abbreviated game of football. The LFL is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and plays its games from August to January. It is currently the only full-contact professional football league for women in the United States.
The LFL was created byMitchell S. Mortaza, a former marketing executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The league began play in September 2009 with its inaugural season consisting of four teams. The league has since expanded to ten teams, with plans to add two more teams for the 2013 season.
The LFL is played on a 50-yard field, with each team having seven players on the field at a time. The game consists of four 10-minute quarters, with two five-minute halves in between. The clock stops during play after incomplete passes, out-of-bounds plays, and when a team scores.
To date, there have been no female NFL players, but there have been several women who have played in the LFL. One of the most notable is Heather Furr, who played for the Las Vegas Sin from 2011 to 2012. In 2012, she became the first woman to score a touchdown in an LFL game.
The Women’s Football Alliance
The Women’s Football Alliance (WFA) is a full-contact, professional American football league for women that began play in 2009. The league has 48 teams in two conferences, National and American. Each conference is further divided into four divisions: East, West, Central, and Pacific. The WFA season typically runs from April to July.
In October 2016, ESPN2 aired the first live broadcast of a WFA game, when the Dallas Diamonds hosted the Austin Acoustic. That game set the ratings record for a live stream of female professional football, with over 100,000 viewers tuning in from over 180 countries.
The WFA is just one of many leagues around the world for women who love to play football. For more information on women’s professional football, check out our article on Are There Any Female NFL Players?
Women Playing in the NFL
Football is a sport that has been traditionally been seen as a man’s game. However, there have been a number of women who have successfully played in the NFL. Kathy Switzer was the first woman to officially enter and compete in the Boston Marathon. In 1987, Nancy Lieberman became the first woman to play in a men’s professional basketball game. In 2003, Liz Heaston became the first woman to play and score in a professional football game.
Sarah Fuller
In 2020, Sarah Fuller became the first woman to play in a Power 5 college football game, suiting up for Vanderbilt as their placekicker against Missouri. She made history again a few weeks later, becoming the first woman to score in a Power 5 football game.
Katie Sowers
Katie Sowers became the second woman to be hired as a full-time coach in the National Football League (NFL) on January 10, 2017. She is also the first openly LGBT coach in NFL history. Sowers plays a vital role in helping the San Francisco 49ers organization run smoothly as an offensive assistant. Most recently, in 2019, she helped lead the team to a Super Bowl appearance.
Even though there are no female players currently in the NFL, Sowers’ story proves that there is hope for aspiring female football players out there. She is an excellent role model for young girls everywhere and is helping to break down gender barriers in the world of sports.
Conclusion
So, are there any female NFL players? The answer is no. There have been a few women who have played in NFL preseason games, but none have ever made it to the regular season. The reason for this is that the NFL requires all of its players to be male.