Sarah Fuller became the first woman to play in a Power 5 football game on Saturday when she delivered the opening kickoff of the second half for Vanderbilt against Missouri.
Fuller, a senior goalkeeper on Vanderbilt's SEC championship soccer team, sent the low kick to the 35-yard line where it was downed by Missouri. Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason said Fuller executed the so-called squib kick exactly as it was designed (Uh huh - ed.).
"Honestly, it's just so exciting," Fuller said after the team's 41-0 loss. "The fact that I can represent all the girls out there that have wanted to do this or thought about playing football or any sport really, and it encourages them to be able to step out and do something big like this, it's awesome."
I'm sorry, but this stunt reminded me of a certain move made by Bill Veeck in 1951. Veeck. who was the owner of MLB's St Louis Browns, had 3'7" midget Eddie Gaedel make a plate appearance in an actual game. Obviously it was done for show since it was an August game with the Browns sporting a pathetic 36-78 record. No chance a carnival act like this would have even been conceived of had the Browns been a pennant contender.
The Browns' situation seemed to parallel Vandy's given they were an 0-7 team in a game where they were a decisive underdog. Do you honestly believe Ms. Fuller would have been allowed to participate in any fashion had this game held any serious implications?
Go ahead and write off my objections as misogynistic if you like. Here's what conservative writer Alyssa Ahlgren had to say.
I’m all for women playing college football if they’re the most skilled, talented, and qualified for the position. But they’re not. Don’t get me wrong, athletes like Sarah are top tier female athletes. However, they’re not top tier football players.
I’m sick of women being used as publicity stunts in men’s sports and we have to act like it’s a huge deal and pretend we don’t know it’s just part of society’s obsession with diversity tokens and woke milestones.
Vanderbilt has a men’s club soccer team, a men’s rugby team, and I’m sure one player out of the entire Vanderbilt football roster can kick. But why would an already terrible football team skip out on a chance to “make history” and plaster the news? They wouldn’t. So instead the coach calls a squib kick for Sarah Fuller to start the second half of the game.
And anyone that knows anything about football knows you don’t squib kick to start a half, let alone squib kick to start a half while you’re down 21-0. You call a squib kick when your kicker can’t kick.
I too am not the least bit opposed to women playing football. If more had the skillset to be effective in the game, you'd likely seem them in prominent roles. But you don't. Because men and women are physically built different. And that is truly settled science.
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