Women’s Football Alliance: We Had No Idea This Existed. Now We Can't Stop Talking About It.
We are a podcast about the NFL. Three girlfriends, three teams, endless opinions about the sport we have loved our entire lives. But this summer, something happened that genuinely changed us — and we are not being dramatic when we say that.
We found out about the Women's Football Alliance. And nothing has been the same since.
How It All Started
It started, of all places, with a Facebook connection. Dezi had worked in an emergency room with a nurse who happened to see the Girlfriends + Football page — and reached out with a message that sent our group chat into chaos:
Did you know there's a women's tackle football team right here in Tampa Bay?
Wait. What? Excuse me. Please tell me more.
Within minutes, Beth had already decided she was driving down. Laura was on the Women's Football Alliance website looking up teams near Asheville. And Dezi was texting everyone with the same energy she brings to a 4th quarter drive.
So we went. All of us — in our own ways, to our own games. Dezi and Beth headed to Tampa for the Tampa Bay Inferno. Laura found the East Tennessee Valkyrie, just an hour and a half north of Asheville, and showed up to cheer them on solo.
And here is the thing we need you to understand before we go any further:
This is not flag football. This is not powder puff from when we were growing up. This is eleven on eleven, full pads, full gear, women's tackle football at the highest level. And it is extraordinary.
Meet the Tampa Bay Inferno — and the Legend Behind It
Before the Inferno's game against the Minnesota Vixen, Dezi and Beth had the chance to sit down with Jen Moody — owner of the Tampa Bay Inferno and a pioneer in women's football in every sense of the word.
Jen played seven years as a wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Passion starting in 2002, helped run operations behind the scenes, and when she moved to Tampa, she retired from the field but not from the game. She poured everything she had left into building the Inferno — and what she's built is remarkable.
What struck us most in that conversation was how Jen described her why as an owner. It's not the same as her why as a player — it's bigger now. It's about giving women the opportunity to be better moms, better friends, better career individuals. It's about mental health. It's about a community where women who give so much to everyone else in their lives finally get to do something purely for themselves.
Beth said it perfectly during the episode: you kind of forgot you were watching women. You were just watching football. Because sport is sport. And these women can play.
A few things that floored us about the Inferno specifically: they have four former players now coaching on their staff. They partner with USF Health for athletic training and medical support. And every dollar donated through their foundation goes directly back to the team — helping women travel safely and have the resources they need to play the sport they love.
Because here's the reality: these women are not getting paid. They are working full-time jobs, raising kids, living full lives — and then showing up to practice, putting on pads, and playing tackle football on weekends. Dezi called it next-level women heroism. We all agreed. Hats off does not begin to cover it.
You can support the Tampa Bay Inferno at tbinferno.com.
And Then There Was Coach Lori Locust
If you don't know that name yet, you need to.
Lori Locust is one of the first full-time female coaches in NFL history. She played women's tackle herself, got hurt, transitioned into coaching, worked her way through high school, men's semi-pro, and women's semi-pro football, did an internship with the Ravens, and eventually became the assistant defensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2021, she became one of the first women to win a Super Bowl with the Bucs. Most recently, she spent three years as an assistant coach with the Tennessee Titans.
She was at the Inferno game doing the coin toss the day we were there, and we were lucky enough to sit down with her before kickoff.
Her whole career is inspiring. But the thing she said that we cannot stop thinking about?
She doesn't think in terms of role models. She thinks in terms of possibility models.
Because a role model shows you what someone else has done. A possibility model shows you that it is possible — for you, specifically, right now, if you want it badly enough and are willing to do the work.
That shift in language hit all of us somewhere deep. Women's tackle football exists. Women are coaching in the NFL. The ceiling has broken. And every girl growing up watching this sport deserves to know that those things are real and within reach.
Coach Locust is still available for her next coaching opportunity, by the way. In case anyone needs one of the most accomplished defensive coaches in recent NFL history. We're just saying.
East Tennessee Valkyrie: Football and Community in the Mountains
Laura couldn't make the drive to Tampa, so she did what Laura does — she found the closest WFA team to home, reached out to the East Tennessee Valkyrie, and showed up in Bristol, Virginia on a sweltering Saturday ready to cheer.
The Valkyrie are based in the Tri-Cities area where Tennessee meets Virginia — a part of the country that doesn't even have an NFL team. And what Laura found there genuinely moved her.
She spoke with three players before the game, each one super impressive in their own way.
Patsy Radford, number 60, plays middle linebacker, left guard, running back, and defensive end. She got recruited by a friend at a local festival. She has been named an All-American in the league. She loves a good NA Aperol spritz. She is exactly the kind of woman you want representing this sport.
Megan Lyons has been playing since 2016, battled through a torn ACL and meniscus, then a torn plantar fascia and torn ankle ligament, came back both times, and showed up to that Saturday game and lit up the field with touchdowns. Also an All-American. Also the kind of athlete who makes your jaw drop. Also someone we will absolutely be calling for our Sports & Medicine segment because that plantar fascia story needs a chat.
And then there was Rachel. Rachel is in college. She is from Michigan. She had never really watched football before joining the Valkyrie. She found the team through the Johnson City Pride Festival — and what she said about what it meant to find community through football, in that part of the country, brought Laura to tears.
"Queer representation is huge. And living in an area where you're not sure where to find that — I think it was a really big thing to come into that community through football."
Football is for everyone. We have always said it. Rachel and the Valkyrie are living it.
The game itself ended 44 to zero — a Valkyrie blowout. Laura was in shorts and a T-shirt and still nearly melted from the heat. The women on the field were in full pads. And they played through every second of it. If that does not tell you everything you need to know about these athletes, we don't know what will.
Follow the East Tennessee Valkyrie at etnvalkyrie.com and on Instagram and Facebook at @EastTNValkyrie.
What We're Taking Away From All of This
After everything — the interviews, the games, the conversations — here is where we landed.
Women's tackle football has been around since the 1970s. There are teams across the entire country. Players are paying to play, juggling jobs and families and real life, and showing up every weekend to do something they genuinely love. And most of us had no idea.
That is the part that gets us. Not just that it exists — but that it has been here, growing and building and fighting for recognition, and the wider world is only just starting to pay attention.
We are paying attention now. And we are not going anywhere.
If you want to find a team near you, visit the Women's Football Alliance at wfafootball.com. Also check out the Women's National Football Conference — a similar league with teams in cities like Atlanta and beyond. The WFA is currently in playoffs right now, which means the most exciting games of the season are happening as you read this.
Go find a team. Go to a game. Take your kids — especially your little girls. Let them see what is possible.
And if you are reading this and you have ever wanted to play football — the door is open. These teams take women of every age, every size, every background, every level of experience. A 50-year-old quarterback just retired from the league. Dezi is still thinking about that linebacker spot. We're just saying.
Watch the Full Episode
We covered everything — the games, the interviews, the moments that gave us chills, and the laughs in between — in our Women's Football Alliance special episode.
Watch on YouTube or listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify — search Girlfriends + Football and find the WFA Special wherever you get your podcasts.
And mark your calendars: the Girlfriends + Football podcast returns in September with a brand new season. Subscribe now so you don't miss a thing
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