Anytime a female plays football at a competitive level it becomes a national news story, as it should. Football has long been considered a man’s game, so when we hear about a woman nearly making the LSU football team or trying out at Virginia Tech it is worth noting.
On Sunday, 28-year-old Lauren Silberman became the first ever woman to try out at an NFL Regional Scouting Combine. It did not go well. Silberman kicked only two times, and as you can see from the video above the results were horrendous. She said she hurt her right quadriceps earlier in the week while preparing for the tryout. It must have been an incredibly painful injury, because Silberman looked like she had never kicked before in her life.
“I tried staying off it and waited for today,” she said according to FOX Sports. “I didn’t even take kicks in warm-ups, and, it’s pretty hard to know that you’ll be in pain, and I wanted to work through it and I certainly tried to, but I just couldn’t do it today.
“I’m just really happy I had this amazing experience. I might be the first woman trying out for the NFL, but I certainly hope I’m not the last.”
Silberman reportedly grabbed at her right leg and struggled for about 20 seconds before attempting her second kick (shown above), which traveled all of 13 yards. She then asked to see a trainer and limped off the field. Silberman told reporters that her kicks were traveling further earlier in the week, but she did not say exactly how far.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk said the tryout screamed publicity stunt, and we tend to agree. We have heard about female football players kicking 31-yard game-winners after having never kicked before, yet Silberman was invited to try out for the NFL and could only kick it 13 yards off a tee. Either we’re greatly underestimating her injury, or it seems like the NFL was just looking to create a buzz.
