Erin DiMeglio is a senior at Florida's South Plantation High School. She's 5'4", 140lbs, and most notably, the third-string quarterback on her school's football team. DiMeglio, who was already the starting point guard for the girl's basketball team and the quarterback for a girls' flag football team, started practicing with the boys earlier this spring.
According to People, it was Doug Gatewood, the coach of both her flag team and the boys' varsity squad, who invited her to come to a spring workout. By the end of the first practice, she was asking if she could come back the next day.
"I said, 'Sure, but you're not playing,' " Gatewood said. "She wore me down..."
Her campaign to stick around paid off earlier this season when she entered a game late in the fourth quarter, becoming the state's first female quarterback.
Hear Erin, her coach, and her teammates talk about having her on the roster.
View this video on YouTube
Did you hear that crowd lose their minds for her? And her teammates seem so happy to have her there, and not in a "this is cool, because we're on TV now" sort of way, but because they value her contributions to the team. She's an equal. How refreshing is that to see? The whole situation seems shockingly free of drama, and that's how it should be. If she can play, she can play. Simple as that.
Erin should be an inspiration to girls everywhere. If I ever have a daughter, I know I'll be showing her these videos. And not just to help her learn how to throw a football. Hell, with her form, I'd rather have her under center for the Browns than Brandon Weeden.
Seriously, the girl can throw a football.
