Haley Van Voorhis made history this past weekend for Shenandoah University. She became the first female football player to play in a college football game at a position other than kicker. His safety blitz made the news and was a talking point for Deion Sanders. The Colorado Buffaloes coach was asked about Van Voorhis and praised his accomplishment.
“I’m happy for her. First of all, I’m worried about her safety. I want to make sure she’s safe,” Sanders said Tuesday. “But I’m sure if she puts pads on, she understands what comes with it. I believe in equality not only when it comes to ethnicity, but also when it comes to gender. So I’m all for it . May God bless her.”
Van Voorhis became the eighth woman to play in an NCAA football game.
In 1997, Liz Heaston, a kicker for the NAIA’s Willamette University in Oregon, became the first woman to play and score in a college football game. It was two years later that Colorado native Katie Hnida became the first woman to play in a Division I football game. She was unable to record a single point at CU.
Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller became the first woman in history to score in a Power Five college game when she kicked two extra points against Tennessee.
“It’s an incredible thing,” Van Voorhis told the Washington Post. “I just wanted to go out and do my thing. I want to show others what women can do, show what I can do.
“It’s a great moment. I made the impossible possible and I’m excited about it.
