Jen Welter is embracing her breakthrough status as the first woman to hold any kind of coaching position in the NFL.
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The Cardinals announced the hiring on Monday, saying they added Welter to their staff as a coaching intern during training camp and pre-season. Nonetheless, it marks another barrier broken for women in sports.
Welter said she never dared entertain the thought of coaching in the NFL.
Cardinals inside linebacker Kevin Minter welcomed Welter’s appointment as ground breaking.
“What I love is that this changes the dynamic of the dreams that little girls who love football can end up having from this day forward”, Welter said. “So I guess if that makes me a trailblazer, then…”
“Our players only want to be taught how to get better”, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said Tuesday. “She’s a trailblazer”, he said.
Team President Michael Bidwill said the move has the enthusiastic support of the organization, which has long been known for hiring minorities for management positions. In 2014, while playing as running-back for the Texas Revolution in the Indoor Football League, she made history as the first woman to hold a non-kicking post for a men’s professional sports league team.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Chiefs safety Eric Berry is returning to the practice field, less than eight months after a stunning cancer diagnosis threatened to derail his Pro Bowl career. She helped lead them to four championships. After mentioning his now-famous quote about the possibility of females coaching in the NFL once they can prove they can make players better, Welter’s head coach with the Texas Revolution, Devin Wyman, called Arians.
She said fellow intern Levon Kirkland, who will work with outside linebackers, had already reached out about finding time to study the team’s playbook together.
Welter has more than 14 years of professional football experience, mostly with the Dallas Diamonds of the Women’s Football Alliance.
Welter coached linebackers and special teams for the Revolution last season, becoming the first woman to coach in a men’s pro football league. She played rugby at Boston College.
■She also earned two gold medals on Team USA at the worldwide Federation of Football Women’s World Championships in 2009 and 2013. In April, the NFL hired its first full-time woman official, Sarah Thomas.
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Of course that’s what Welter is eying.
