The first woman ever to try out for the NFL

March 3, 2013

ABC News – Lauren Silberman will become the first woman in history to try out for the NFL when the kicker participates today in the New York Jets’ regional combine.

“It would be a lifelong dream come true,” Silberman told ABC News.

The 28-year-old New Yorker said she hopes her powerful foot will impress the scouts and earn her an invite to an NFL training camp as a kicker.

Silberman is a University of Wisconsin and Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate and a former college club soccer player.

While she is new to the gridiron, Silberman hopes her years of studying sports video games will give her an advantage.

“I”m hoping through all of this virtual play that I’ve done that it will extend to performing well physically on the field,” she said.

The historical significance of Silberman’s tryout was not lost on ABC News sports consultant Christine Brennan.

“What Lauren is trying to do is something that’s incredibly admirable, shows her confidence, her comfort level, her love of sports,” Brennan said. “That statement should reverberate throughout the United States.”

Silberman’s tryout comes one week after NASCAR driver Danica Patrica sped into the history books, becoming the first woman to take the pole position at the Daytona 500 and the first to lead a lap in the race.