Carli Lloyd: NFL team asks Women’s World Cup winner to play in pre-season
United States international Carli Lloyd has been asked by an NFL team to kick in their final pre-season game, her trainer James Galanis has said.
The two-time World Cup winner, 37, was invited to an NFL training session last week and a clip of her kicking a 55-yard field goal went viral.
The 2015 World Player of the Year was then approached by several NFL teams.
“One was willing to put her on the roster,” said Galanis. “She was told [she could] play on Thursday.”
Speaking to Fox Sports, he added: “I don’t want to say who it is [the team]. But she is playing Thursday with the national team, so that was the conflict.”
The US, who won the World Cup for a fourth time in July, play a friendly with Portugal in Philadelphia on Thursday (14:00 BST).
The Philadelphia Eagles invited Lloyd, who had a loan spell with Manchester City in 2017, to a joint session with the Baltimore Ravens and she practised kicks with Ravens players.
Although women have played at college and professional level, they are yet to play in a pre-season or regular season NFL game.
“It was a lot of fun, it blew up more than I could have ever imagined,” Lloyd told Sports Illustrated.
“So many people are starting to think ‘will there ever be a female [player] in the NFL?’ I think we’re kind of at that crossroads as far as equality and women empowerment.
“I’ve definitely got some enquiries, I’ve definitely got people talking. Anything’s possible but right now I’m strictly a soccer player and we’ll see what the future holds.”
NFL hall of fame executive Gil Brandt replied to the clip on Twitter, saying: “Honestly, I don’t think it will be long before we see a woman break through this NFL barrier. I’d give her an honest tryout if I were, say, the Bears.”
The Chicago Bears have tried out nine kickers since the end of the 2018 season.
The longest field goal in NFL history is 64 yards by Matt Prater for the Denver Broncos in 2013, with only 20 being made from at least 60 yards.