While on spring
break, I came across a very interesting article relating to recent class topics
about girls playing male dominated sports like football. The article’s author, Dennis Waszak Jr.
titled it, “Female Kicker’s NFL Tryout Lasts All of 2 Kicks.” Kind of a harsh
statement and a little on the negative side if you ask me. The article featured Lauren Silberman, a 28 year-old who played club soccer at Wisconsin, who was trying out with the 36
other kickers, who were all male.
“Lauren Silberman lined up for a kick at NFL history, took a deep breath
and booted the football” (par. 1). “It barely went anywhere, traveling 19
yards, and she grabbed at her right leg” (par. 2). Since her tryout only lasted two kicks before heading to the
trainer, news media and E! Entertainment surrounded her and was intrigued by
her in the New York Jets practice facility.
At first when
reading the article I thought how great it was that a female was able to
qualify for a regional combine because of how good she was. Reading on, Waszak, as well as the
media covering the story, thought of it to be more of a publicity stunt. Waszak states, “Silberman paid a
registration fee – about $275 – and just needed to show up Sunday and take her
best shot at impressing scouts” (par. 17). Of course people on Twitter will have
all sorts of opinions, it seemed they all agreed as well. Although the article states she paid a
fee and got to try out, Stephen Austin, the NFL’s director of regional combines
say, ”We want young, athlete people who have played a sport, typically in college
or military or small schools” (par. 15). Although not ever competing in a
competitive football game in the past, Silberman spoke of disappointment that
her health was a factor in impressing the scouts. She hopes that scouts will notice her technique rather than
the 19 and 13-yard kicks.
To me, the
article seems to suggest that the NFL wanted to make some noise by letting the
first female try out for the NFL.
What is the most interesting part is that it is for place kicker, which
most females in the past have played the position. What about Holly Mangold? She played competitively and
shined as a football player that saw the field regularly. Would NFL scouts give Mangold a shot by
the position she played and potentially could of made it to the next stage?
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI read about this story and also saw the coverage of the two kicks that Silberman attempted. At first, I was also excited that she was given a chance to try-out, but then I was disappointed that it did not go well. I hope this attempt did not set back the potential of other women to try out in the future.
Thanks again for sharing about this story.
Dr. Spencer
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteAs you told me about this in class I almost did not believe you. I think it is great that a female was given this opportunity, however the fact that the kicks were so poor could damage the image of the league as well as females in this role. As Dr. Spencer commented above, I hope this does not discourage other females from attempting these types of things in sport. I can definitely see the argument that this was a publicity stunt, however, doesn't the NFL have enough buzz about them? Hopefully this was a legitimate effort to involve females in sport, rather than a ploy to get media coverage in the off season. Either way, the article was a good read and thank you for sharing it!
-Hunter Haas
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI have also heard about this story, and the reaactions that are coming from it. In a Chicago Sun Times article, they asked Katie Hnida, a former female kicker at Colorado and New Mexico, about Lauren Silberman. Hnida responded with "It is disappointing, I hoped she would go out and do justice for an NFL tryout because there are lots of people who have dreamed of going to the NFL. It should be something serious." Hnida believes that this was a publicity stunt and that Silberman did not take the opportunity seriously. I agree with that statement and that Silberman could have prepared herself more for the combine than what she actually did. People put years of thier lives into this, and she trains for a few months and gets a shot and publicity from it.
-Tyler Kieffer
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/18615851-419/female-kicker-auditions-at-nfl-combine-two-kickoffs-total-30-yards.html
ReplyDeleteSource for Chicago Sun Times article, Tyler Kieffer
After reading Tyler's article in the Sun Times and watching the video that was associated with it, I believe this was more on the publicity stunt side. I haven't seen a video of her kicking until today and it definitely swayed me one way. I kicked for my high school's varsity football team for three years and was recruited to kick at several school. After watching her technique and approach, I have seen better females that played competitively with far better skill. It's great the NFL gave a female a shot, but at the same time it was disappointing.
ReplyDelete-Jeff Kravetz
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteThis is a really neat and interesting article that you have shared with our class. I had not heard about this story until you shared it. It is shocking, but in a good way to see a female trying out for the NFL. One question I have is, why haven’t females who were place kickers in high schools and/or colleges tried out at the regional combines. I feel they would have better success than Silberman would have had. It is however unfortunate we did not get to see the best of what Silberman had to offer since she was injured. It would have been very interesting to see what would have happened if she was not injured and performed very well.
-Tyler Jester
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI have not heard about this story until just now reading this blog. In my opinion it sounds completely like a publicity stunt. I feel this way because she only kicked the ball nineteen yards. Female or not, that is unimpressive. I think that this is kind of a slap in the face to females who have been kickers in high school and college. This incident gives men the ammmunition to talk about how girls should not be allowed to play football and football is a "man's sport". In my opinion, it would be really cool to see a girl tryout for an NFL team if she was serious about the sport. Unfortunately in this case, Silberman was not serious about kicking or football. I think now that this happened, more girls will want to prove men wrong and be successful kickers so hopefully in the near future there will be more girls trying out to be kickers and actually giving it a legitimate shot.
-Tad Margolies
I was very interested in this article as well and first saw it on yahoo sports as a story. I don't think it was a publicity stunt contrary to most people beliefs because I do not believe they would allow someone out of complete random without a any skills to come to the combine. There are only a certain amount of spots that are given out to compete at this event and it would be pointless for the NFL to allow someone to come in a take one of those spots if she was not at least able to compete. I wish she would have been healthy and i'm sure she would have not come and competed if she could only kick a ball 19 yards...just about anyone could do that. I think she may have actual skills due to her history in soccer. Many high school and college teams utilize soccer players as kickers and many get their shots due to that back ground. I might be thinking wishfully but I do not see this a publicity stunt because it only had a day or two of real coverage and just faded away into the sunset. I hope this will open up more opportunities and make women realize they can compete, all it takes is skill and someone to break the barrier for all females.
ReplyDeleteThis was published by Joshua Kovacs
DeleteJeff,
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a really good post. I was kind of let down though when I read how the article was entitled. Although I am not big on females being in the NFL, I do applaud the ones who try and want to prove people wrong. It takes a lot of courage for a female to go out and try to compete with males at an NFL try out. I wish these types of women could get more credit. I thought this was a great post.
-Logan Walker
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a good post and that the NFL letting a females participate in the combine is also very good for them. I think that she should have been more prepared to go in there and prove to everyone else why they were letting her participate in the Combine and not have horrible kicks. I think that if someone is talented enough to participate in a sport of their choice they should be allowed to do so and no one should be able to stop them for whatever reason. They know what they are getting themselves into and are willing to put their bodies out there.
Jeremy Shay
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI didn’t hear about this story until I just read the blog and read a little more about it online to see what was all going on. I totally think this was just a publicity stunt. The only reason I say this because if she used to play soccer and was trying out to be a kicker I think she would have been able to kick the ball more than 19 yards. Only kicking the ball 19 yards is quite embarrassing. I think if she would have taken this a little more seriously she would have kicked it a lot farther than 19 yards. It would be nice to actually see a female athlete play in the NFL but if a female ever tries out I hope they take it more seriously and know that it isn’t a joke. I hope now that this opened the eyes of females’ athletes who take sports seriously will eventually try out for the NFL to be kickers and hopefully they will get a shot. It would be really nice to see a female dress up and play professional football. Overall this was a good post.
---Lindsey Landversicht
I think you raised a very interesting question in regards to Holly Mangold. I personally think that coaches and scouts would be all for letting a woman try out at another position, but I fully believe it would be nothing more than a spectacle to them. They would not even come close to considering her as a possible asset to their team, but they would feel as though they were taking a step toward equality by letter her try out. I believe that the day will come when a woman will play in the NFL, but I don't think that day is anywhere in the near future. The stigma of women competing against men in contact sports has not yet been broken and until that happens, women will not be legitimately considered for positions in the NFL other than Punter and Kicker.
ReplyDelete-Andrew Hayes
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI saw the same story over spring break. I agree with you that the NFL was trying to make some noise by letting her try out with the other kickers. It is to bad noone got to see her true talent before she got injured. I like the point that you brought up as well about Holly Mangold. I believe the only reason they allowed Lauren Silberman kick was because their was no contact. However, if their was contact such as Holly Mangolds position I think they would have denied her. I just hope this incident didn't put total doubt in everyones minds about females playing in the NFL.
-John Ruppert
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI think that the NFL was trying to bring some attention to this years combine with the usage of Silberman as a kicker. With the combine being something that is just viewed by die-hard NFL fans, if they were to bring a little more interest to it than normal they put themselves in the position to generate more interest. You bring up a good point with the Holly Mangold situation. I think that since Silberman tried out as a kicker, a position with very minimal contact it was more acceptable to the NFL than if Mangold were to try to play the line position she did in high school.
Zane Langdon
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI did hear about this over break and was excited and a bit disappointed at the same time. I figured that since she was trying out for NFL teams, that she would have done better at the combine. I do understand that she says she was injured, but after watching the video of her kick she looked like she honestly didn't know the proper technique behind kicking a football. I definitely feel that this was a publicity stunt for the NFL. But I did read later on that actually anyone can try out for a regional combine, you do not need an invitation, for the NFL at the expense of $250, or in that range. So I applaud her for making the move to try and become the first woman to participate.
Anthony Tacey
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI did hear all about this over break. It truly is an interesting topic, considering I never thought this topic would even come up. I agree with you when you say that this was a publicity stunt. If this girl was worth watching, she would have actually put on a show. That may sound mean, but I feel like if she was sent to a trainer after two kicks, she would have no chance in the NFL. In all honesty, I feel that she embarrassed herself in front of everyone. However, I do applaud her for taking a chance, I just wish she would have been more successful in her efforts.
Dan Pesato