{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"290: The Many Leagues of Women's Football - With Russ Crawford","description":" While American tackle football has long been considered an exclusively male sport, this week's guest Russ Crawford ("Women's American Football: Breaking Barriers On and Off the Gridiron") takes us on an eye-opening journey over the decades that highlights the persistent and still-growing interest of women playing the game - including professionally.   Anecdotal evidence abounds of amateur football competitions, collegiate intramural leagues, and even an 1926 NFL halftime exhibition featuring Frankford's "Lady Yellow Jackets" - proving women's intrigue with the sport.   The women\u2019s game became more organized in \u200b1965 with the launch of sports entrepreneur\u200b \u200bSid Friedman's \u200baspirational \u200bWomen's Professional Football League\u200b, and later more forcefully in 1974 with the founding of the\u200b pioneering National Women\u2019s Football League\u200b \u200b- \u200bfeaturing \u200bnotable teams such as the \u200bHouston Herricanes, \u200bDallas Bluebonnets, Toledo Troopers, Oklahoma City Dolls, and Detroit Demons.   \u200bToday, \u200btwo robust national semi-pro outdoor leagues (the 60+ team Women\u2019s Football Alliance\u200b; \u200bthe 18-club Women\u2019s National Football Conference)\u200b, plus an increasingly evolved\/credible indoor "X League" (fka as both the infamous "Lingerie," and later "Legends" Football League)\u200b - keep the women's gridiron game alive, with undoubtedly more pioneering to come.   + + + PURCHASE  Russ Crawford's book  "Women's American Football: Breaking Barriers On and Off the Gridiron" in either hardcover or Kindle electronic versions NOW! ","author_name":"Good Seats Still Available","author_url":"https:\/\/goodseatsstillavailable.com","html":"