Time to speak your mind ladies!

Hi everyone, my name is Chanel Porter. I’ve been watching Steelers football with my dad for as long as I can remember. We all remember the treacherous days of Tommy Maddox being turned over to the G.O.A.T. in my heart (Big Ben). We remember Hines Ward going into the end zone to beat the Seahawks. We remember crying when Larry Fitzgerald scored shortly before the Santonio Holmes’ corner of the end zone touchdown.

But, we’ve also all felt like our opinion doesn’t matters to group of men when discussing football? We all know those women who are like “wait… how many points do you get for a touchdown?”. But, that isn’t us. This is it, a place to go for all ladies to talk about the game we love and the team we admire free of men criticism. Let’s talk about the Steel City.

We remember the hard times through this decade. Hines Ward crying when Bus retired, all of us crying when Bill Cowher retired, the heartbreaking loss against Green Bay, and the Antonio Brown departure. All leading to this season of the injury of Ben and our season spiraling down (you know it’s bad when you lose to the Browns).

But before we get into the season, let’s talk about the backlash women get in the football world. Of course, with any topic involving women things are getting better over time, but I know I’m not the only one that isn’t content with where we stand right now. I’m currently studying sports journalism in college, and that has shown me so many ways women can be maligned in the masculine sports world and the harassment that they receive from men.

I mean we FINALLY got a female referee in the NFL and some women have even been able to be assistant coaches, but why stop there? Why can’t we play bigger roles? Let’s make women offensive and defensive coordinators. Let’s become head coaches. Let’s see the first woman general manager.

Fun facts for inspiration: Jen Welter assistant coach under the linebacker coach for the Cardinals was the first woman to hold a role on an NFL coaching staff in 2015. Kathryn Smith special teams quality control coach for the Buffalo Bills was the first woman to hold a full-time coaching position in the NFL in 2016. Kelsey Martinez is currently the only woman working in the NFL as the Raiders strength and conditioning coach.

My point to all of this is, these women beat the odds they stood up for what they loved and their knowledge of the game and made their dreams possible (no matter what men thought they were more qualified for the position).

No, I’m not saying we should all be NFL head coaches, but the least we can do is come together free of the sexist men criticism and talk about the thing we have in common… our love for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Steeler ladies… PUT YOUR HANDS UP!

#SteelerLadies #HereWeGo #SteelerNation