#360USA: Arizona Cardinals out to prove gender is not a barrier in NFL

Sport360 staff 11:44 03/08/2015
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  • Jen Welter has become the first female to be appointed by an NFL team.

    The NFL continues to inhabit a parallel universe which never fails to surprise. While news of Tom Brady and the coincidence his phone – the one with all those text messages on about deflating balls – was somehow destroyed, a development was under way in Arizona which could alter sport forever.

    — Mark Dalton (@CardsMarkD) August 3, 2015

    In a rare good news story for an organisation which becomes ever-more embattled, Jen Welter, an ex-tennis prodigy with a PhD in psychology, became the first female coach to be appointed by an NFL team.

    Forward-thinking Cardinals coach Bruce Arians had no hesitation about making her assistant linebackers coach. After all, he has three assistant coaches who are 70-years-old. His mantra is simple: If a person, no matter of age or gender, can make one of his players better, they will get a chance.

    Welter played for 14 years in the Women’s Football Alliance and represented Team USA. Last season, she worked at the Texas Revolution who play in the Champions Indoor Football League.

    Her gig at the Cardinals is part-time, beginning now until the start of the new season in September.

    If she impresses, a full-time post could be hers. Yet the mere fact the 37-year-old is involved in the testosterone, male dominated world of NFL is a starting point many believed would never happen.

    Yes, she obviously has never played professionally. Yet coaching legends like Vince Lombardi didn’t have an impressive playing CV.

    Welter studied business in Boston before going back to school for a master’s in sports psychology as well as studying psychology at Capella University in Minnesota. Sport became engrained in her studies – her dissertation centered on the relationship between the Wonderlic intelligence test and the success of NFL quarterbacks.

    Naturally, thanks to such a strong academic background, the Florida native is said to have an excellent, analytical football brain. The NFL playbook is, however, thicker than a text book. Egos need to be dealt with. And, modern day America or not, a woman in such a role won’t be immediately accepted by all.

    Her promotion and opportunity to mix it with the big leagues though will give hope to millions of women all over the United States. It’s amazing to think that women comprise of half the population yet Welter has become just the third female coach to be appointed in American sports following Becky Hammon who is assistant coach at the San Antonio Spurs and Nancy Lieberman who has just joined the Sacramento Kings.

    Last season, Sarah Thomas became the NFL’s first full-time female official. Nothing, however, is set in stone – the Cardinals could abort the experiment. It’s only an internship at a time when clubs often use former players to see if they have an eye for coaching.

    If it doesn’t happen at the Cardinals, other teams may start calling. A college job perhaps? Either way, the door has been opened.

    Unlike Welter, Hammon is a full-time employee in Texas. Arians will be monitoring his charge extrem-ely closely in the coming weeks.

    “‘When are we going to have female coaches?’ The minute they can prove they can make a player better, they’ll be hired, “ he said.

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    The wider picture is key. Ensuring franchises have the best pool to choose from should be of paramount importance – male, female, black or white. The best people need to be coaching and guiding the best players. The larger the pools, the higher the bar will be set. A trawl through the history books proves it.

    Before Jackie Robinson’s seismic introduction into baseball in 1947, there was a lack of competitiveness – teams would win or lose more than 65 per cent of matches – because the league were only using white players. Once Robinson opened the floodgates, baseball never looked back. A team has not won more than 65 per cent of its games since 2001.

    Robert Williams, who was coached in Texas by Welter, said: “At the beginning, it was a little shaky with her being a woman. But when taking the woman out of the equation, everything started coming into play.”

    Arians will be hoping history repeats itself.

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