Lauren Silberman did something no other woman has ever done before.  She tried out for the NFL.  It is such an amazing accomplishment.  I was so excited for her when I first heard the news.  I had no idea what the outcome would be, but I thought the example she would be setting for millions of young NFL loving girls could be huge. Unfortunately it didn't quite work out.

As you'll see in the video below, her tryout was pretty bad.  It's not even as though she went out there, performed well, but didn't quite stack up with the rest of the talent.  That would have been fine.  She could have walked off the field with her head held high knowing that she gave it her best shot.  Instead, she took two kicks which only went 19 and 13 yards.

I'll give her credit.  She had a positive attitude and said all of the right things.  But, I can't help but wonder if her tryout actually hurt women more than it did help them.  Everyone is watching this video right now and, whether they'll admit it or not, is thinking, "This is why girls don't play the game."  I don't believe that myself.  I think...strike that...I know there are plenty of girls out there that could rip the cover off the ball.  I played soccer with a lot of them.  Any female athlete looking to get a tryout now is going to have to fight so much harder because Silberman's image will forever be stuck in the NFL's mind. 

What she did was amazing and she should absolutely hold her head up high.  I just wish her performance would have been a little better so people would be talking about how close she came instead of how terrible she looked.