There is more good news for females looking to make a career in the NFL. Commissioner Roger Goodell announced at the organization’s Women’s Summit a “Rooney Rule” for women, to encourage them to apply for more executive jobs in the league.  The news comes on the heels of the Buffalo Bills becoming the first team in NFL history to hire a female coach. Kathryn Smith was hired as special teams quality coach in January. This made Smith the first full-time assistant coach in the league, and could set a new standard for other women, ending stereotypes in all sports. Sarah Thomas also became the NFL’s first female official last season.

Goodell applauded the NFL’s progress.
You can see that progress is being made,” Goodell stated. “And our commitment is we have something called the Rooney Rule, which requires us to make sure when we have an opening that on the team or the league level, that we are going to interview a diverse slate of candidates. Well, we’re going to make that commitment and we’re going to formalize that we, as a league, are going to do that with women as well in all of our executive positions. Again, we’re going to keep making progress here and make a difference.”

The Oakland Raiders’ hired Amy Trask as the league’s first NFL’s first female CEO in 1997. She left the team in 2013.