So what if your child had the heart, the drive, the skill for something they love, but not the access?
What if a sport your child loved ... denied her the ability to play because of her gender?
Let's imagine your granddaughter, your sister, your niece.
Let's imagine a world where she had every opportunity that exists for a young boy.
Where the playing field wasn't just metaphorically level, it was literally accessible to her.
Let's think about ... A world where every locker room door opened with the same ease for everyone.
That question has stayed with me for years and is really the reason why I'm standing here today.
I played in the NFL for 15 years, was an all-star, and now serve as executive vice president of football operations for the NFL.
I think about my journey and this journey of sport and football.
I was raised by a strong woman, Alma Vincent, this quiet determination and women surrounded my life throughout my childhood.
That brings me back to a young girl in the city of Trenton, New Jersey, named Tracy Williams.
Now, Tracy not only played every sport, Tracy competed, Tracy was smart, Tracy was fast.
Tracy not only competed, Tracy used to whoop our tails.
(Laughter)
But as time went on, there was no coach or recruiter in the neighborhood recruiting Tracy.
There was no place for girls, as what we would call, on the football playing field.
So as time went on, she dreamed, but her access quickly vanished.
Today, a father of five, not so young kids anymore.
Five different dreams, five different personalities.
Five different aspirations and five levels of complete drama.
(Laughter)
I have had my fair share of carpools and sport practices.
Our oldest child, Desiré, our oldest daughter, our beautiful daughter, Desiré, has always had this hunger and this competitiveness about her,
could throw a pretty good spiral by the time Des was seven.
Des was smart, Desiré was agile.
Many would consider her slightly tough.
Desiré played a ton of football in the backyards with her brother and friends.
By the time Desiré turned ten, the opportunity to keep playing quickly vanished.
It wasn’t because Desiré lost interest.
Desiré lost access.
Meanwhile, her brothers, our sons, they had the opportunity to continue to play, at both the high school level and the collegiate level.
I realized that I was giving my sons or teaching my sons, life lessons of toughness, building grit, telling them not to cry.
And quickly, I realized that I was just reinforcing this thing called the man box, where I was teaching my sons one thing, but then, yet reinforcing that boys get to compete and girls get to cheer.
where I was teaching my sons one thing, but then, yet reinforcing that boys get to compete and girls get to cheer.
It was at that time I realized that the system was broken.
Fast forward 30 years, flag football has truly emerged as this dynamic, all-inclusive sport.
Today ... It is not only creating options for young women, it is being played by 20 million people across 100 different countries.
This flag movement is real.
It is creating options for young women that never existed before.
Flag football teachers, as we would consider, these life skills that football has always taught.
They just haven't been shared with young girls.
Of leadership, resiliency, toughness.
It develops grit.
Now young women, young girls have an opportunity to compete.
Now you may be asking yourself, why this movement?
Why all of a sudden this explosion?
It's affordable, it's accessible.
It's all-inclusive.
And I'll add one more point there. It's social-media friendly.
Seventeen states have sanctioned girls’ varsity flag as a true varsity sport in high school.
Nineteen additional states have pilot programs.
One hundred-plus colleges now offer flag with scholarships.
Let's take Ki'Lolo Westerlund.
I love this, I just I love this image.
Why?
She's the first female to earn a Division-one full scholarship for flag football.
(Applause)
She's the first of many.
That's just the beginning.
And this is what excites me.
In 2028, flag football will debut in the Los Angeles Olympic Games.
OK, there's been 100 years --
(Applause)
But let's think about this.
A hundred-plus years of football and our young ladies will be able to represent, will take the field in a sport that once had no place for them.
We're not in the Olympic Games if not for the participation and the skill level of young women across the globe.
NFL flag, we're now in six different continents.
Flag is truly becoming a global language.
It is truly taking the world by storm.
And it's taking the world by storm because of the participation of women.
Women are driving this movement.
I won't allow anyone to say, well, it's because of marketing.
No it's not. It's simple.
We opened the door for her and we gave her an opportunity to participate, and she's taken our sport to another level.
It is so important that this movement, that we nurture it in this time and this space.
We must nurture this movement.
What do I mean by nurturing the movement?
Let's take advantage of this momentum.
The one thing that we have to be careful of, and this is why I'll challenge the group here.
It is so important that we don't commercialize it for men or boys, because there's a tendency to do that, to commercialize the sport and create a commercial model for boys.
because there's a tendency to do that, to commercialize the sport and create a commercial model for boys.
And then yet we get satisfied with just access for women.
No.
We must create a equal playing field as we develop this great sport.
It is so important that we nurture it.
So you may be asking, well, what can I do?
Ask the question at your schools.
Start small.
Reach out to your local parks and rec.
Are you offering, do young women have the ability to play flag football at your school, at your local parks and rec?
What this does for young ladies, I think about, we talk about life skills.
Life skills and football are so transferable.
We need to remind, just like we remind our young boys, these transferable skills that I live by every single day.
Leadership, toughness, communication skills, these are all transferable life skills.
Read the defense, read a room.
Call an audible, solve a problem.
Lead a drive, lead in life.
These are things that we've been telling our young boys and what the game provides us as a transferable life skill for over 100 years.
They're now on the table as an option for young ladies.
If we can, can we just run the video?
(Video)
Person 1: I feel that right now we are living an amazing moment in time for women in sports.
Person 2: Flag football makes you feel powerful and strong and fearless.
Person 3: To see what women can do in this sport is pretty amazing.
Person 4: Bring your teammates back up with you, let's go.
Person 5: I see her dedication and her love for the game.
Person 6: The self-confidence this sport gave them is immeasurable.
Person 7: It's made her such a strong person.
Person 8: For many years, we've heard so many no's.
No, you can't play.
No, you're just a woman.
No, you're never going to be as fast as man.
We belong on the football field now.
It's an Olympic sport.
We're going there.
It's our sport.
It's our time.
We're going to the Olympics.
[Our sport]
[Our time]
[To make history]
(Applause)
So in closing, my challenge to the audience, to the group, to the world.
Let's just imagine a world where Tracy from my old neighborhood, my granddaughters Laila, Rosie, Nadia, Giani, imagine a world where they can take the field.
Imagine a world where your niece, your sister, your daughter is representing our country.
Imagine a world where your niece, your daughter, your granddaughter ... Is walking out in the opening ceremony.
Here's my challenge and here's what I would leave.
Let her lead.
Let her dream.
Just let her take the field.
Why?
Because the future of football and sports it is through women.
And it's now.
Thank you.
(Applause)