First Female Running Back in Men's Pro League Walloped Multiple Times

Jennifer Welter, the first female to play running back in a men’s professional football league, got walloped by men twice her size in a preseason game on Saturday in the Indoor Football League.

According to Fox Sports, the 36-year-old Women’s Pro Football veteran debuted with the Texas Revolution “after signing to try out for the team last month.” Welter, who is 5’2″ and 130 pounds, was crunched by men twice her size on three occasions as she tried to score. She was not successful in making it to the end zone. 

“I said ‘Is that all you got?'” Welter said she told told a 6-4, 245-pound defensive lineman Cedric Hearvey. “I didn’t want them to think I was intimidated.”

Harvey said he turned to the opposing team’s sideline and asked them to take Welter out of the game “because this doesn’t feel right.”

“Honestly, it was very weird,” Hearvey told the Dallas Morning News. “Part of me wanted to let her score, but part of me had a job. So I was like, ‘Can y’all please take her out?'”

Hearvey also asked to come out of the game as well after tackling Welter, and he admitted after the game that he had “a lot of respect for that lady over there.” Welter herself acknowledged after the game that she was not advocating that women play against men.

In the Revolution’s 64-30 win over the North Texas Crunch, Welter received multiple handoffs inside the five-yard line and got rocked and crushed by men twice her size (see below). The sparse crowd gasped and then cheered on Welter, who usually plays linebacker for the Dallas Diamonds of the Women’s Football Alliance. The Revolution have indicated that they want Welter to be associated with the team even if she does not make the team. The Revolution opens the regular season on Friday. 

Photo: Dallas Morning News

Three Instagram clips of Welter getting tackled from Louis Ojeda:

Inside the 5-yard line midway through the third quarter, she took the handoff from the quarterback and saw a wide open hole, but that gap closed quickly and the 5-2, 130-pounder was knocked back for a loss.