More and more women are finding seats at the NFL table.
The Patriots, for the first time in their 64-year history, have fired a full-time female scout.
Via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, the Patriots have hired former Princeton director of football operations Maya Ana Callender to serve as an entry-level scout. She previously worked with the Eagles in 2021, under a training-camp fellowship.
Princeton coach Bob Surace explained to Reiss the manner in which Callender has worked to position herself for the opportunity to work for one of the premier NFL organizations.
“She became our pro/NFL liaison, so every time a scout came in -- which was probably 50 times last year, every team came in at least once -- she set them up,” Surace told Reiss. “She talked about the players, their injury histories, how she had evaluated their performances. Then, by the time the scouts got to me, they didn’t have a lot of questions. I was kind of irrelevant on that, which was a new thing for me. She was terrific.”
She now gets a chance to display her talents and develop them in a place where hard work is presumed and excellence is demanded.
Per Reiss, the NFL had 22 full-time female scouts in 2022. As the pipeline fills, it’s just a matter of time before a team hires a female General Manager. The time for that happening could be closer than anyone realizes.