Gary Barnett Would Be So Proud

by Eric Horowitz, ShakedownSports

The history of women attempting to play football with men has not been a very successful one (See: Hnida, Katie). Despite the efforts of Abby Vestal, a young lass from Kansas, it will probably stay that way.

In May Vestal made headlines when she signed on to play kicker for the Kansas Koyotes of the indoor American Professional Football League. That moment would mark the high point of her professional football career.

Although she was an accomplished high school soccer player, her skills did not quite translate to the football field. During her first two games she was a Jose Cortez-like 4-10 on PAT attempts. After the 4^th game of the season the team decided to go with a more experienced male kicker and it placed her on the inactive list. The only problem was that Vestal wasn’t told about it. She kept practicing with the team, completely unaware that she was no longer a part of it.

Vestal eventually left the team, pocketing a grand total of $40 for gas money. Forty measly dollars--that's less than what you need to make it rain at a BYOB strip club. Even Maurice Clarett had a more successful indoor football career, and he was arrested for having Tank Johnson's gun collection in his car before he ever played a game.