‘Dr. Jen’ embraces breakthrough role with Arizona Cardinals

Dr. Jen Welter will begin a new era in the NFL this season as she will become the first female coach in NFL history as a member of the Arizona Cardinals organization.

Welter will work with the Cardinals linebackers.

“I didn’t even dream that it was possible and I think the beauty of this is that while it’s a dream I could never have, it’s a dream other little girls can have”, Welter said.

“He had to get all the right yeses but it was his heart that made it happen”, Welter said, “and it was his belief that the Arizona Cardinals are the team that could handle this happening and that he has coaches on his staff that would embrace it and not cast me off to the side”.

She said she would feel “honored” to be considered a trailblazer for other women wanting to follow in her footsteps.

Arians said he had spoken to veterans on the team about Welter’s hiring and “they were all very cool with it”. Bidwill said he spoke Monday night with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who congratulated the Cardinals on the move.

She was the first female to play a non-kicking position in a men’s pro league when she was a running back and on special teams for the Indoor Football League’s Texas Revolution in 2014.

Cardinals’ players report on Friday for training camp, which lasts about a month. Welter holds a master’s degree in sports psychology and a Ph.D.in psychology (that’s where the “Dr.” in her Twitter profile name comes from).

“If you can make me better, I don’t care if you’re the Green Hornet, man. I’ll listen”, said Arians. She continued to make history when the Revolution hired her to coach both linebackers and special teams.

Welter’s internship at the training camp will be an important initial step in the career path leading to a full-time coaching position, Newsweek notes. In April, Sarah Thomas became the first woman to be hired as a full time official with the NFL. They hire people who can prove that they can inspire players to perform better and for him, coaching is all about “teaching” players, he added.

Welter played professional football for more than 14 years as a linebacker, mostly with the Dallas Diamonds of the Women’s Football Alliance.

Welter, who worked as an assistant coach for the Revolution, believes she’ll be able to connect with NFL players since she shares their passion for the game. She played rugby at Boston College.

Her first check, she said, came in 2004 – for $12, $1 for each game. She has an #AZCardinals coaching job. “It’s not going to be a distraction in any way”, the head coach said.

Of course that’s what Welter is eying.