Has a Woman Ever Played in the NFL?

Many people believe that women have never played in the NFL, but that is not the case! In fact, a woman named Sarah Fuller made history this year when she became the first woman to ever play in a Power 5 college football game.

The History of Women in the NFL

While there has never been a woman that has played in an NFL regular season game, there have been a few women who have tried out for NFL teams. In the 1970s, a woman named Lauren SILK tried out for the New Orleans Saints, but she did not make the team. In the 1980s, a woman named Christy RAMZEY also tried out for the Saints, but she also did not make the team.

The first woman to play in the NFL

In the history of the National Football League (NFL), there have been a small number of women who have played professional football. In 2002, Katie Hnida became the first woman to score in an NFL game, while working as a placekicker for the New York Jets during a preseason game. In 2010, Sarah Thomas became the first full-time female official. As of the 2019 NFL season, there have been eight women who have played in the NFL:

-Rachel Wolder Mitchell was a placekicker for the Green Bay Packers in 1987.
-Lori Zachary was a wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1986.
-Jen Welter was a running back for the Texas Revolution in 2014 and 2015.
-Lauren Silberman was a kicker for the New York/New Jersey Knights in 1993.
-Elizabeth Faile was a center for the Charlotte rigid lady Flames in 2007.
-Kristen Hubly was an offensive lineman for the Chicago Bliss from 2008 to 2012.
-Sarah Stone was an offensive lineman for the Columbus Comets in 2004 and 2005.
As of 2019, these are all of the women who have played in at least one NFL game.

Women who have played in the NFL

Since the NFL was founded in 1920, there have been a number of women who have played in the league. Early on, it was not uncommon for women to play alongside men, but as the level of competition has increased, so too has the separation between the sexes. Over the years, a handful of women have been able to keep up with the men and even compete at a high level.

The most recent woman to play in the NFL is Lauren Silberman, who attempted to kick for the New York Jets in 2013. Silberman was not successful in her attempt and has not played since. Prior to Silberman, Sarah Thomas became the first woman to officiate an NFL game in 2015.

A number of women have also played in semi-professional and minor league football leagues. In 2010, Jennie Finch pitched for an MLB game, becoming the first woman to ever do so. She currently works as a sports analyst and commentator.

The Rules of the NFL

In the National Football League, there are certain rules and regulations that players must adhere to. One of these rules is that all players must be male. This has been a rule since the NFL’s inception in 1920. There have been a few women who have tried to play in the NFL, but they have all been unsuccessful.

The NFL’s stance on women playing in the NFL

Since its inception, the National Football League (NFL) has been a male-only professional sports league. However, this began to change in the 1970s when women started playing football in various semi-professional and amateur leagues. In 2012, the NFL’s stance on women playing in the NFL began to soften when the league appointed its first female vice president, Sarah Thomas.

However, despite Sarah Thomas’ groundbreaking appointment, as of 2019, no woman has ever played in an NFL regular season game. There have been a handful of women who have been signed to NFL practice squads and a few who have even played in pre-season games, but none have made it to the regular season.

The closest any woman has come to playing in an NFL regular season game is Jen Welter, who was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as a training camp/pre-season coach in 2015. While she didn’t play in any games, Welter made history as the first woman to coach in an NFL game.

The question of whether or not a woman will ever play in an NFL regular season game is still up in the air. However, with more and more women taking on leadership roles within the league (such as Katie Sowers becoming the first full-time female assistant coach in 2017), it seems only a matter of time until we see a woman take the field in an NFL game.

The NFL’s gender discrimination policy

The National Football League (NFL) has a long history of gender discrimination. For many years, the league imposed strict rules preventing women from playing football. In recent years, however, the NFL has relaxed its policies and now allows women to play in certain circumstances.

The most notable example of a woman playing in the NFL occurred in 2015, when Sarah Thomas became the first woman to officiate an NFL game. Thomas was a highly qualified official who had previously worked in college football. She was hired by the NFL after impressing league officials during a tryout.

While Thomas’ hiring was a major step forward for gender equality in the NFL, it is important to note that she is still the only woman to have officiated an NFL game. There are no women currently playing in the NFL, and it is unclear if any will be given the opportunity to do so in the future.

The Future of Women in the NFL

Though no woman has ever played in the NFL, this does not mean that the door is closed for women in the future. In fact, the NFL has been working to increase participation of women in the sport, both as athletes and as fans. The league has partnered with USA Football to launch a women’s tackle football league, and has held free clinics for women interested in playing the sport. Additionally, the NFL is working to expand its female fan base.

The possibility of a woman playing in the NFL

The NFL has been a male-dominated league since its inception. However, there have been a few women who have managed to make an impact and carve out a place for themselves in the league. Sarah Thomas became the first full-time female referee in 2015, and in 2018, Katie Sowers became the second full-time female assistant coach in NFL history. These women have blazed a trail for other women to follow, and it is not impossible to imagine a woman one day playing in the NFL.

The fact that there has never been a woman player in the NFL is not for lack of talent or ability. There are several women who have played football at the collegiate level and have excelled. One such player is Samantha Rapoport, who played quarterback for Simon Fraser University in Canada. Rapoport was so good that she was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent in 2017 and spent time on their practice squad. She was eventually released, but her story shows that there are women out there with the talent to play at the highest level.

The main obstacle preventing a woman from playing in the NFL is simply that they have not been given an opportunity to do so. There is no rule that explicitly prevents women from playing, and there has been at least one woman who has tried out for an NFL team (Lauren Silberman, who tried out for the New York Jets in 2013). It seems like it is only a matter of time until a woman finally breaks through and plays in an NFL game. When that day comes, it will be a historic event not just for women but for football as well.

The likelihood of a woman playing in the NFL

It is very unlikely that a woman will ever play in the NFL. Although there have been a few women who have played in exhibition games, and even one who played in a regular season game, the vast majority of women who have tried to play professional football have not been able to make it onto a roster.

The main reason for this is simple: women are not as physically strong as men. In order to compete at the highest level of professional football, players need to be big, fast, and strong. Women simply cannot meet these physical requirements.

There have been some programs specifically designed to train female football players, but so far none of the women who have come out of these programs have been good enough to play in the NFL. It is possible that someday a woman will be talented and physically gifted enough to play in the NFL, but it seems unlikely that this will happen anytime soon.