The first openly LGBT coach in the NFL is 49ers’ Katie Sowers
She’s also the second woman to be a full-time NFL coach
Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Des Bieler.
Earlier this month, Katie Sowers, 31, became just the second woman hired by an NFL team as a full-time coach. The offensive assistant for the San Francisco 49ers made more history Tuesday, when she came out publicly as a lesbian in a report by Outsports, making her the first openly LGBT coach in league history.
“No matter what you do in life, one of the most important things is to be true to who you are,” Sowers told Outsports. “There are so many people who identify as LGBT in the NFL, as in any business, that do not feel comfortable being public about their sexual orientation.”
Women as the NFL minority
- The trail was blazed by Kathryn Smith, who coached full-time for the Bills last season.
- Jen Welter also became the first female positional coach in the NFL as a 2015 intern with the Cardinals.
- Then came Katie Sowers.
The new woman on the NFL block
- Sowers competed in football professionally and for the U.S. national team, excelling at a variety of positions before a hip issue ended her playing career last year.
- A Kansas native, she went on to become general manager of the Kansas City Titans in the Women’s Football Alliance, where her twin sister, Liz, is a standout receiver.
- Served as an intern for several months as part of the Bill Walsh NFL Coaching Diversity Fellowship.
- Her 2016 internship with the Atlanta Falcons brought her into contact with Kyle Shanahan, then the team’s offensive coordinator and now head coach of the 49ers.
- Shanahan was impressed enough to bring her aboard as an intern with his new organization, and then to give her a full-time position, a move met with approval by San Francisco wide receiver Jeremy Kerley.
“It’s groundbreaking and all that stuff, but the more normalized it is, the better it is,” Sowers told the San Jose Mercury News last week. “As a female, the more someone can ask me what I do and I say, ‘I coach football,’ the less shock on their faces will mean the better direction we’re moving.”
NFL and LGBT
The NFL has yet to have an openly gay player appear in a regular season game, although several players have come out after their careers ended. Michael Sam came out before the 2014 NFL draft and was selected by the Rams before being released in the preseason.
Asked by Outsports whether either the Falcons or 49ers knew of her sexual orientation, Sowers mentioned that it came up with Atlanta assistant general manager Scott Pioli, whom she described in a Facebook post as “a close friend and mentor.” Pioli also proved invaluable to former NFL player Ryan O’Callaghan, who said his fears of being outed as gay had him nearing suicide a few years ago, before he opened up to the executive and experienced life-changing acceptance.
Of her experience with the Falcons, Sowers said, “I could not have asked for a more open minded and accepting group of people to work with. I never once felt judged and I was treated just like anyone would want to be treated: as a typical person working to build a career.”
Sowers said that she thought an openly gay male coach “would be accepted just like anyone else.”
She added, “What most people need to remember is that the NFL is a place of work for these players and it is a job that provides for their families. They are professionals and what you will find is they act like professionals in everything they do.”
