ESPN's Beth Mowins to become first female play-by-play commentator of an NFL game in 30 years
Mowins is expected to team up with former coach Rex Ryan in the booth for the LA Chargers' Monday Night Football clash with the Denver Broncos
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Your support makes all the difference.The NFL boasts female referees, female sideline reporters, female television presenters and even female coaches.
But for 30 years there has been a gap in their coverage, a gap that is set to be filled on the opening weekend of the new season.
A report by Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated has revealed that ESPN will make Beth Mowins the first woman to conduct a play-by-play commentary of an NFL game since 1987 on the 2017 season's first edition of Monday Night Football.
Mowins will be joined in the booth by another first-timer, former New York Jets and Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan, in a bold move by the Connecticut-based broadcaster.
The last woman to call play by play for an NFL regular season game was Gayle Sierens, who commentated on a game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Kansas City Chiefs in the final week of the 1987 season. While Sierens was a success, and then-NBC Sports executive producer Mike Weisman offered Sierens six more games for the following season, the long-time newscaster's local NBC station did not want her to miss any more of her contracted full-time role - and she never commentated on an NFL game again.
Renowned play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico predicted last January that Mowins would be the first woman in a generation to step into the role.
“Beth will show up and do a game and do as good a job as any of the men,” he said. “She is a ceiling-breaker, a pioneer and there will be more women [calling the NFL] going forward.”
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