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.

I wanted to like this more than I ultimately did. I think it's because I went in expecting a different kind of book than it was. For those also looking for that kind of book, Amy Trask's [book:You Negotiate Like a Girl: Reflections on a Career in the National Football League|29362884] hits the spot.

I thought it would be more about her NFL stint, which was my own poor research. I did enjoy the book though. I liked the message that just because someone says you can't, doesn't always mean you can't. Maybe she could have been a tennis pro too. It's also a lesson that coaches need to stop saying can't.
I think all of her teammates as well as the players she coached were lucky to have her. I also liked the layer she added to the stories that went beyond what has been covered in her interviews. And of course there's the silliness in and over analysis of the handshake between she and Sarah Thomas.

A good read ahead of the NFL season.

At 5'2" 130#,Jenn may have needed a stool to talk to the media crowd but she was not small. She truly "played BIG" throughout her life. She tackled more than the men she played in the NFL with, she tackled every challenge offered with enthusiasm, energy, and courage. What a great role model for girls - not only did she play sports across gender barriers, she earned a college degree and 2 advanced degrees while she was actively pursuing professional sports. She showed an amazing sense of humor and caring and compassion for the team-mates. I loved that she would stay up all night to write personal notes to the linebackers she coached...and that she wrote them on cute little notecards with embossed cards. She wasn't afraid to use her feminine intuition at the same time she was proving she could play with the big boys.