Jeffersonville High School’s Shelby Osborne has become the first female player signed to play as a defensive back in college football history.
The Jeffersonville, Indiana senior signed with Campbellsville University to play for the Tigers next semester. Her accomplishment is the result a long road of hard work, determination and overcoming the word “No” when she told people that she wanted to play one of football’s more active positions. Osborne played sports throughout her time in high school such as soccer, cross country and tennis but all along, she really wanted to play football. She asked the team’s coach Lonnie Oldham if she could join up and Osborne backed up her promise by conditioning and training right along with the guys everyday from the 4 a.m. runs to staying after school to run plays as late as 8 p.m. She even spent a good amount of time on the field and put up quite a fight.
As her senior year drew to a close, she didn’t want to give up on the game she fell in love with so she started scouting colleges to pick her up as a player. She actually got some interest from some schools in North Carolina and Florida but they withdrew that interest when they learned that the “Shelby” writing to them was a woman. Finally, Campbellsville coach Perry Thomas remembered her performance from an all-star game and signed her on the spot. Her high school coach has high hopes for her college performance because “She doesn’t take no very well.”
We hope that she has a successful season on a college football field as well. Women should have an equal chance of getting a spot on a football team and not getting paid to risk their bodies for their university.
College Football Has Signed Its First Female Defensive Back
