In 1973 there was perhaps no one more qualified for - or with more of a Alvin Kamara Jersey direct line to - a job in the NFL than Sheila Ford Hamp. Today she's the principal owner of the , but back then she had just graduated Yale University as a member of their first cla s of women. She had athletic bona fides through playing collegiate tennis. And she was the daughter of Lions owner William Clay Ford Sr., who took her to NFL meetings that got her company with then-NFL commi sioner Pete Rozelle. But when she went to Rozelle looking for a job within the league, he had nothing for her. "I know he tried because he liked me and thought it would be fine, but he couldn't think of one thing - nothing - that a woman could do in the NFL," Ford Hamp said Wednesday during the fifth annual NFL Women's Careers in Football Forum, a two-day virtual event for dozens of women aspiring for roles in the NFL. "So I'm thinking how far we've come," she continued. "I really think for you guys that are on this panel, it's fabulous. Make your connections. Get to know people. Get your foot in the door any which way you can, and I think you can do whatever you want." The NFL selected 40 women, with three-quarters of them being women of color, to participate in the event that's normally held in person during the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. This week's panel of guests included among others three team owners, seven head coaches, seven GMs and female a sistant coaches Jennifer King and Lori Locust. The forum's purpose is to help women, most of whom are working in college ranks today, build connections within the NFL to improve the pipeline of female coaches, scouts and front office personnel. In the past four years, the league counts 118 opportunities for women in these various roles. This was my first time sitting in on the forum, and I found the first day's panel to be full of great advice for anyone trying to break into any industry. But specifically for women in football, the theme of the day was "pa sion for football," as coaches, GMs and owners all explained. "The thing that stood out about Jennifer is, she wanted it," Washington coach Ron Rivera said of King, the first Black female full-time a sistant in NFL history. "She wanted to be involved in coaching football, more so than anything else. That was one of the things that I took from having her around." King, who played women's tackle football from 2006 to 2019, noted there are very limited opportunities to have played the sport for women who aspire to be coaches but urged participants not to dwell on that. Plenty of coaches in today's NFL ranks didn't play the game at a high level, and intangibles like the ability to communicate and teach can set anyone apart. Locust, the a sistant defensive line coach for the , said she came to her first forum years ago with coaching experience but was looking for an NFL internship before landing one with the . She provided real-life examples for how women can improve their football knowledge right now Deuce McAllister Jersey . "I'm a big proponent on clinics," Locust said. "I'm a big proponent on calling your local high school and seeing if somebody will allow you to sit in and watch film and teach you how to break down film and teach you some of the concepts and the things that will start to make sense to you. "Overall, it's an amazingly violent che s game. And if you can understand the 'if this then that' type of mentality, if you have the ability to see it as a big picture and be able to break it back down to a very granular level, and you have the ability to communicate Adam Trautman Jersey and teach and you have a pa sion for it... don't worry about the fact that you didn't get an opportunity to play or the fact that you're a female. Speak on what
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