Are There Any Women In The NFL?

It’s a question that’s been asked for years – are there any women in the NFL? The answer may surprise you.

Women in Professional Football

Women in the NFL

There are currently no women playing in the National Football League (NFL). In fact, there has never been a woman even on an NFL roster.

There are many women playing professionally in other football leagues, such as the Legends Football League (formerly the Lingerie Football League) and the Women’s Football Alliance. There have also been a handful of women who have played in men’s professional leagues, such as Sarah Fuller who made history this past season when she became the first woman to play and score in a Power Five college football game.

Fuller was invited to kick for Vanderbilt after their regular kicker and punter were placed on the Covid-19 list. She had never played in a competitive football game before, but she made the most of her opportunity, nailing both her extra point attempts in a 42-17 loss to Missouri.

While there are currently no women playing in the NFL, it seems only a matter of time until we see one on an NFL roster. Fuller has shown that women can compete at the highest level of football, and with more opportunities for women to play at all levels of the game, it’s only a matter of time until we see a woman take her place among the men in the NFL.

Women’s Professional Football Leagues

There are many talented women in the NFL. However, they are not given the same opportunities as men. This is because the NFL is a male-dominated league. There are many women’s professional football leagues, but they are not as well-known as the NFL.

The Lingerie Football League

In 2009, the Lingerie Football League was established as a lingerie football league with exhibition games played during the Super Bowl halftime show. The league began with eight teams and has since expanded to ten teams. The league is played in a two-hand touch or flag football format. Players must wear underwear, bras, and short shorts.

In 2012, the Lingerie Football League expanded to include a team in Australia. The league plans to expand to other countries in the future.

The Lingerie Football League has been criticized for being exploitative and for its lack of safety standards. There have been reports of players sustaining concussions and other injuries during games.

The Women’s Football Alliance

The Women’s Football Alliance (WFA) is a full-contact women’s American football league that began play in 2009. It is currently composed of 56 teams from across the United States. The WFA is one of three full-contact, 11-on-11 women’s football leagues currently in operation in the United States, along with the Independent Women’s Football League and the Women’s Spring Football League.

The WFA mimics many of the same rules as the NFL, although there are a few exceptions such as kickoff return rules and overtime procedures. The league is divided into two conferences, the American and National, each of which is further divided into three divisions. Each team plays a 10-game regular season schedule, with the top teams from each conference qualifying for the playoffs. The WFA championship game, known as the WFA Bowl, is held annually in late June or early July.

Women Playing Football in High School and College

There are plenty of women playing football in high school and college. In fact, there are more women playing football in high school and college than there are in the NFL. However, the number of women playing football in the NFL is growing.

High School

In 2014, more than 1.6 million high school students played football in the United States, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Of those 1.6 million, about 30 percent were female.

There are no official statistics on how many college football players are female, but the number is believed to be very small. According to a 2006 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, there were only nine women playing Division I-A college football that year. As of 2019, there are thought to be a few dozen women playing football at the Division I level.

The vast majority of women who play football do so at the high school or collegiate level. There are currently no women in the National Football League (NFL).

College

Currently, there are no women playing in the NFL. However, there are a handful of women who have played football in high school and college.

The most notable woman to play football in college was Sarah Fuller, who made history as the first woman to score in a Power Five game when she kicked two extra points for Vanderbilt University against Missouri on November 28, 2020.

Fuller began her kicking career as a senior in high school, when she joined the boys’ team after the school’s regular kicker was injured. She went on to play for Vanderbilt’s women’s soccer team before being called up to the football team mid-season.

While Fuller is the most well-known woman to play football at the collegiate level, she is not the only one. In 2019, Katie Sowers became the first woman to coach in an NFL game when she served as an assistant for the San Francisco 49ers. Sowers played football and basketball in college before beginning her coaching career.

Conclusions

It is clear that there are no women currently playing in the NFL. However, it is possible that there could be women playing in the future. The NFL has shown interest in hosting a women’s league and has been working with the Women’s Football Alliance to promote the game. There are also several talented female quarterbacks who have played in college and could potentially make the transition to the NFL in the future.