For Jen Welter, the most appealing part of joining the Arizona Cardinals' coaching staff is not that she's an NFL pioneer — the first female coach in league history — but that she's treated like an equal.
That hasn't always been the case.
When she made headlines by playing in a men's professional league for the Texas Revolution — a 5-foot-2, 130-pound running back brave enough to run into a wall of defenders — she was relegated to the dance-team locker room to suit up.
"I opened the door, and I've never been so scared in all my life," said Welter, 37, who played for the Revolution last year and coached linebackers for them this winter.