Patricia Palinkas (née Barczi, born 1943) is credited as the first woman to play
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
professionally in a league made predominantly of men. She was a
holder for her husband Stephen Palinkas for the
Orlando Panthers
The Orlando Panthers were a professional American football team based in Orlando, Florida. Founded in 1958 as the Franklin Miners, the team spent its first four years in the Eastern Football Conference, then three further years in the Atlantic Coa ...
of the minor league
Atlantic Coast Football League
The Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL) was a professional american football minor league that operated from 1962 to 1973. Until 1969, many of its franchises had working agreements with NFL and AFL teams to serve as farm clubs. The league paid ...
. Palinkas was the only woman to attain this distinction until
Katie Hnida signed with the
Fort Wayne Firehawks in 2010.
Career
Palinkas attended
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...
, but did not play football there. At the time of Mr. and Mrs. Palinkas's signing with Orlando, the team was in severe financial straits, having lost thousands of dollars running the team on a large budget. The incoming ownership group sought a way to draw fans to the gate without the big-budget talent it had relied upon in the 1960s. The publicity that came with a female football player, and the profits that could be realized by hiring a box-office draw at league minimum salary, was likely a key factor in the duo's signing.
Palinkas's first day of play was August 15, 1970, against the Bridgeport Jets, in front of roughly twelve thousand fans.
On her first play, Palinkas was attacked by Jets defenseman Wally Florence, who admittedly (and unsuccessfully) attempted to "break her neck" as punishment for what he perceived to be "making folly with a man's game." Palinkas went on to appear four more times: three consecutive successful extra-point kicks, and a field goal attempt that was blocked.
After her husband injured his leg (reducing his
field goal range Field goal range is the part of the field in American football where there is a good chance that a field goal attempt will be successful.
A field goal is normally 17 yards (7 yards in Canadian football) longer than the distance of the line of scrim ...
from 40 yards to an unacceptable 25 yards) and failed to make the preseason cut, Palinkas (after surviving a threat from ACFL Commissioner
Cosmo Iacavazzi
Cosmo Joseph Iacavazzi (some sources say Cosmo Iacovazzi, born August 18, 1943) is a former American football player. A fullback, he played college football at Princeton University and was a member of the Tiger Inn eating club. He was inducted ...
to block her contract and prevent her from playing) remained the team's holder for a new kicker, Ron Miller, mainly because she was a draw at the box office; she lost interest in the game soon after the decision and was suspended shortly after the start of the season.
After being placed on the Panthers'
taxi squad
In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...
, Palinkas left the team, in part due to the low pay; she received $25 for each of the two preseason games in which she appeared, and was planning on demanding a greater share than the standard $100 ACFL salary had she played in any regular-season games. Palinkas was one of several Panthers players who quit the team prior to the end of the season because of salary disputes, and several of her teammates complained of not being paid at all.
She held an option to return to the team in 1971 (which transferred to the
Roanoke Buckskins after the Panthers suspended operations) but, because of the relocation distance and other problems she experienced during her time playing football, she let it lapse.
Palinkas, after her brief stint in professional football, returned to her home in
Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
[Hold it! Panthers holding for a novel change]
''Associated Press'' via The Evening Independent (July 20, 1970). to start a family and continue her career as a first grade teacher.[
]
See also
* List of female American football players
* List of women firsts
References
External links
YouTube video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palinkas, Patricia
Female players of American football
Living people
1953 births
Northern Illinois University alumni
American sportswomen
Players of American football from Tampa, Florida
21st-century American women