Female football player makes history by signing letter of intent to play college ball

Who says girls can't play football? If they do, Toni Harris isn't listening because she's received a scholarship to play in college

Feb 28, 2019
Toni Harris hopes to make history as the first female player in the NFL. (Toni Harris/Instagram) thegrio.com
Toni Harris hopes to make history as the first female player in the NFL. (Toni Harris/Instagram)

First, female coaches made their way into the NFL and now a female player is signing up to play in college.

According to ESPN, on Tuesday, Detroit native Toni Harris became the first female football player in a skill position to receive a full scholarship to play the sport in college.

In January, the 5-foot-7, 164-pound safety first made headlines after she was offered a scholarship to play football at Bethany College, an NAIA school in Kansas but she has now accepted a scholarship to Central Methodist University in Missouri.

READ MORE: Toni Harris makes history as first female athlete to snag a football scholarship and looks towards NFL

She first began playing football at age 6 and eventually played wide receiver and cornerback at Redford Union High School in Michigan. In 2014 her sports dreams hit a speed bump when Harris was diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately, the cancer went into remission a year later and her health scare never deterred her from playing the sport she loves.

While the world may be taking notice of her now, the safety says she had a difficult time finding a junior college that would let her play football, before getting an opportunity at East Los Angeles College.

“A lot of coaches didn’t believe in me,” Harris told ESPN back in January. “A coach told me, ‘Nobody’s ever going to play you to be at the next level.’ In the end, you’ve got to push yourself. I’m going to focus on my goals.”

READ MORE: Female linebacker inspires other young girls

Harris is grateful for the path that lays ahead for her at Central Methodist, but according to ABC News her ultimate goal is the NFL.

“The NFL is the dream,” Harris said in an espnW Q&A. “I’m going to be working toward that until the death of me. Whether I go drafted or undrafted, I’m pretty sure I’m going to keep my faith and God is going to take me there.”

Harris has already been propelled into the spotlight after being featured in a Toyota commercial that aired during the 2019 Super Bowl.

READ MORE: NCAA shares college basketball reel of Mahershala Ali before he was a two-time Oscar winner

SHARE THIS ARTICLE