For the first time ever, there’s a female coach in the NFL.
Yesterday, the Arizona Cardinals appointed 37-year-old American Jen Welter as a linebacker coach for pre-season.
She was hired by Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians.
Welter comes with 14 seasons as a professional American football player and has already broken ground as a female as the first to play in a non-kicking position in a men’s professional league. She was also the first female to coach in a men’s professional league after training the Texas Revolution last season.
Welter played as a linebacker for 14 seasons with the Dallas Diamonds in the Women’s Football Alliance (who she helped lead to four championships) and was a running back and special teams player for Indoor Football League team Texas Revolution in February 2014.
Oh, and she has a master’s degree in sports psychology.
So, yeah, we’d say she’s more than qualified.
This is the second time this year that the NFL has broken gender barriers. In April, the league announced that Sarah Thomas would be the first woman to be a full-time NFL official.
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