They pivoted: What about 5-on-5 flag football? This would solve the problem of the numbers game, and, they realized, it was much easier to craft a strong pitch for flag than for tackle football.

“I like the violence,” Campbell said. “I like to hit. My dad had us playing tackle football with high schoolers across the yard in my house when I was like 5 years old. So I’ve always ...

The possibility of young girls growing up to play professional tackle football is the vision Odessa Jenkins had in mind when she founded the Women's National Football Conference (WNFC).