After Danica Patrick’s entrance into NASCAR and after Manon Rhéaume’s attempt to play in the NHL, we have a woman who is trying to break the gender barrier into the NFL. Lauren Silberman, 28 a former Wisconsin soccer player will be at the NFL regional scouting combine at Florham Park trying to become the first ever female player to play in an NFL game.
Her goal is to be able to kick a FG from 60 yards, though at the combine the furthest attempts will be from 50 yards and she will have to prove how well she can handle extra points and short field goal attempts. She will have some stiff competition from college kickers but she could end up like Greg Zuerlein who was at last year’s combine and ended up being drafted by the Rams in the 6th round.
Silberman is not the first woman to try out in football as there are numerous women who have tried out and won some spots at the college ranks such as Katie Hnida who was the first woman to ever score a point in division 1-A for New Mexico but she will be the first woman to try out at the professional level. If she succeeds and makes it past preseason cuts she could be the first woman to ever play in a regular season game in any of the 4 major leagues (NFL, MLB, NHL & NBA).
Here’s a video of an interview and of her practicing:
