Samantha "Sam" Rapoport is a former American football player who currently works for the National Football League (NFL) as Senior Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She was formerly the NFL's Senior Director of Football Development. She was initially hired by the NFL to bring more women to the operational side of the league. She is also involved in several other initiatives to get more women into football, including being on the

board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ty ...

of the first ever all-girls tackle football league, the

Utah Girls Tackle Football League The Utah Girls Tackle Football League (GFL) is the first all-girls youth American football league in the world, founded as a nonprofit in March 2015. The league is currently in its season. The GFL consists of three age divisions: elementary (gr ...

. Rapoport has been named to People Magazine's “25 Women Changing The World”, Fortune's 40-under-40 and Named one of Sports Illustrated’s Most Powerful, Most Influential and Most Outstanding Women in Sports.

Football career

Rapoport began playing flag football at the age of 12. She played quarterback for the Canadian Women's Flag Football Team, and the

Montreal Blitz The Montreal Blitz is a women's gridiron football team, founded in 2001, which plays Canadian football in the Central Canadian Women's Football League. Previously, the team played American football in the Independent Women's Football League (2001 ...

(a women's tackle team). In 2003, she applied for a marketing internship with the NFL. Included in her application was a football on which she had written "What other quarterback could accurately deliver a football 386 miles?". She got the job and worked for the league for many years. She was awarded the NFL Commissioner's Innovation Award (2009) and the NFL Commissioner Award (2019) for her work. She left the NFL to work for USA Football, to try get more women around the world playing football. In 2016 she was hired back by the NFL to work as the Director of Football Development, replacing former Baltimore Ravens player

Matt Birk Matthew Robert Birk (born July 23, 1976) is a former American football center who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He spent most of his professional career playing for the Minnesota Vikings. He was the Republican nom ...

. Since 2020, she has been the NFL's Senior Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

References

Living people Women National Football League executives Year of birth missing (living people) Female players of American football American football quarterbacks {{canada-sport-bio-stub