Lauren Silberman, First Female Player To Try Out At NFL Regional Combine, Disappoints On Field

by UInterviewMarch 4, 2013, 12:00 amNews >

Lauren Silberman, 28, a former MIT graduate student and the first woman to ever try out at an NFL Regional Scouting Combine, became the first female to ever compete at a regional combine, but she blew it when she forfeited her third kick after sending the ball barely tripping across the field in her kicking tryouts.

Silberman's first kick went a paltry 19 yards, and the one after that stopped at an embarrassing 13 yards. After the first attempt, Silberman grabbed her right leg, apparently in pain from a previous injury that she later said happened while she was practicing.

It also took her about 20 seconds to tee up the ball for the second kick, and then she asked to see a trainer and gave up her next kick. "They certainly didn't go as far as they were in practices," she later told the over 20 media outlets that had gathered to watch the historic kick, "but I tried to work through the pain."

"I tried staying off it and waited for today," she said. "I didn't even take kicks in warm-ups, and, it's pretty hard to know that you'll be in pain, and I wanted to work through it and I certainly tried to, but I just couldn't do it today," she said.

Still, she's not letting the incident get her down. "I've always been an athlete, and I've always been a gamer. When I had the opportunity to be in the NFL, one of the world's most competitive leagues, I absolutely had to take the chance.

"I'm just really happy I had this amazing experience," Silberman said. "I might be the first woman trying out for the NFL, but I certainly hope I'm not the last," she said. Her performance — or lack thereof — is causing some to speculate that the whole thing might have been a publicity stunt for the combines, which usually don't get much attention.

Silberman, a former club soccer player from Wisconsin, wrote her Master's thesis on how college and pro athletes can use video games to improve their athletic performance.

Watch a video of the kick here: