Title/Author:
“Play Big: Lessons From the First Woman to
Coach in the NFL” by Dr. Jen Welter
Tags:
Football (American), memoir, women, coaching, Cardinals
Publish date:
October 3, 2017
Length:
256 pages
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very good)
Review:
Football has been an
important part of Jen Walters’ life since she was a child. She played tackle football in school, had a
long and successful career in women’s professional football as a linebacker,
became the first woman to play in a men’s professional league (as a running
back), and then became the first woman to coach in the NFL when she was the
linebacker coach for the Arizona Cardinals during the 2016 training camp and
preseason. Being so good at breaking
glass ceilings, she decided to help other women accomplish the same thing in
their fields with this fast-paced book that is a quick and enjoyable read.
While women are the
targeted audience of this book, it is very useful for everyone. Advice on such
traits maintaining a positive attitude, keeping lines of communication open and
facing adversity is given out liberally between stories and accounts of her
football career and some information on her personal life and education as
well. An example of this type of advice that she learned during her football
career came when she was studying the Cardinals’ playbook and she came across
the term “salt and pepper.” She was
trying to figure out what it meant in football – as it turned out, it was a
minor detail in the team’s own language.
It was a lesson to not get too lost in minor details and she uses that
to provide advice to readers.
Even though Dr. Welter
was a coach, don’t expect to read about playbooks, how a linebacker will fill
the gap before a running back gains yardage or the drills she made her players
run. Instead, the coaching she did in
both the men’s indoor football league (the same league in which she was a
player) and for the Cardinals was about attitude and confidence. Her notes left
for each of her players became the talk of not only the Cardinals’ training
camp, but of the entire league. While
her time with the Cardinals may have been short (she was considered an intern
and no interns were kept by the team after the preseason ended), her legacy for
women in a game that has been an exclusive male club will last for a long
time.
I wish to thank Da
Capo Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an
honest review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
Buying Links:
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