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Females In Football recognizes the impact of women in America's dominant spectator sport. In 1923, women joined the cheerleading squad at the University of Minnesota. In 1954, the Baltimore Colts became the first NFL team to have cheerleaders and in 2015, 26 of the 32 franchises have squads. Patricia Palinkas became the first women to play professional football in 1970. Katie Hnida was the first woman to score in an NCAA Bowl Game and broke the barrier in professional indoor football in 1999. In 2010, Rachel Washburn traded in her Philadelphia Eagles' cheerleaders uniform for army fatigues and served two years in Afghanistan as 1st Lt. Washburn.

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FIRST NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE (NFL) FEMALE OFFICIAL SIGNED
NEW YORK, NY --- Sarah Thomas was hired by the National Football League as its first female game official. Thomas has been wearing her stripes and blowing a whistle since 1996 when she worked her first Division 1-A high school game in Mississippi. She is the first woman to officiate in a major college football game, a bowl game and on the turf of Big Ten stadium. Thoma is the first permanant female game official with union standing in NFL history. Shannon Easton worked a regular season game between the St. Louis Rams and Detroit Lions in 2012 in a non-union capacity when the NFL locked out its officials. Click for the Thomas story.
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LALISA ANTHONY GRIDIRON PIONEER AWARD
Established in 2014, the LaLisa Anthony Gridiron Pioneer Trophy is awarded annually to recognize a female who is an exceptional, innovative individual who has created a positive impact in football.

JACKSON, MS --- Kate Dunn received the inaugural LaLisa Anthony Gridiron Pioneer Trophy from Ms. Anthony at the 20th Annual USA College Football Awards Banquet on January 18, 2015 on the eve of the USA College Football Bowl. Dunn was teetering on the line between life and death when she would like to become a NFL caliber football coach. Click here to read her story.

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HNIDA A WOMAN OF FIRSTS ON THE GRIDIRON
NEW YORK, NY --- Katie Hnida, who split the uprights 3 for 3 with fiedld goals and converted 27 of 28 PAT attempts as a senior Chatfield High School (CO), became the first female to suit up for a NCAA Division I-A program in 1999 as a frosh at the University of Colorado and was on the Buffalos roster for the Insight Bowl. Hnida transferred to the University of New Mexico (2002-2004) and became the first female to score in a BCS game when she booted a pair of extra points against Texas State on Augist 30, 2003. She is the first woman to play in a professional indoor football league game. Click the Hnida story.
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PHILADELPHIA EAGLES CHEERLEADER HONORED AS HOME TOWN HERO
PHILADELPHIA, PA --- From 2007 to 2010, Rachel Washburn stood on the sidelines at Lincoln Financial Field as a Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader, watching the battles in the trenches and backfields. The following year she traded in her midnight green Vera Wang-designed cheerleader uniform for army fatigues, leaving Pennsylvania to serve in Afghanistan as a member of the United States Army. On December 22, 2013, 1st Lt. Rachel Washburn returned to Lincoln Financial Field and was honored as the Philadelphia Eagles "Hometown Hero." Click for the Washburn story.
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