Katie Sowers
refer to caption
Sowers in 2016
Personal information
Born: (1986-08-07) August 7, 1986
Hesston, Kansas, U.S.
Career information
College:Central Missouri
Career history
As a coach:
Career highlights and awards

Katie Sowers (born August 7, 1986) is an American football coach, formerly in the National Football League. She was the first openly gay and first female coach in Super Bowl history. Sowers began her American football career playing in the Women's Football Alliance. She joined the NFL in 2016 as a coach for the Atlanta Falcons and then with the San Francisco 49ers, before joining the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021. Sowers currently works in the athletic department of Ottawa University.

Early life and education

Sowers was born on August 7, 1986, in Hesston, Kansas, where she attended a Mennonite church with her family.[1] She began playing American football at the age of eight.[2][3] Sowers attended Hesston College, Goshen College and the University of Central Missouri. Sowers graduated from Central Missouri with a master's degree in kinesiology in 2012.[4][5]

Career

Playing career

While a student at Goshen, Sowers began her football career playing for the West Michigan Mayhem and the Kansas City Titans in the Women's Football Alliance.[6] While with the Titans, Sowers was a member of the United States women's national American football team that won the 2013 IFAF Women's World Championship.[7][8] Sowers continued to play in the WFA until her 2016 retirement due to a hip injury.[9]

Coaching career

In 2016, Sowers joined the National Football League as a wide receivers coaching intern with the Atlanta Falcons.[10] In 2017, Sowers moved to the San Francisco 49ers as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship. She became a seasonal intern before being converted to full-time offensive assistant.[11] In her first season, the 49ers won the NFC Championship, sending the team to Super Bowl LIV and allowing Sowers to become the first female and first openly gay coach in a Super Bowl.[12] Her contract with the 49ers expired after the 2020 season.[13] She joined the coaching staff of the Kansas City Chiefs prior to the 2021 NFL season.[14] In October 2021, Sowers was appointed as the director of athletic strategic initiatives at Ottawa University, where she also coaches the women's flag football team.[15]

Personal life

Before the start of the 2017 NFL season, Sowers came out publicly as a lesbian and became the first openly LGBT coach in the National Football League.[16] Sowers was refused a volunteer coaching position at Goshen College in 2009 because of her sexual orientation. In 2020 the president of the college apologized for rejecting her.[17]

Sowers' twin sister, Liz, plays football as a wide receiver.[18]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Katie Sowers.
  1. ↑ "Goshen College graduate to coach in Super Bowl". Anabaptist World. 27 January 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  2. ↑ Killion, Ann (25 July 2018). "49ers coach Katie Sowers breaks new ground, fulfills her NFL dream". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  3. ↑ "From Kansas to the 49ers, Katie Sowers makes NFL history". USA Today. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  4. ↑ Heinzekehr, Hannah (21 August 2017). "Goshen, Hesston alum becomes second female NFL coach". The Mennonite. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  5. ↑ "Katie Sowers". San Francisco 49ers. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  6. ↑ "From Kansas to the 49ers, Katie Sowers makes NFL history". USA Today. 20 September 2018.
  7. ↑ "Team USA". International Federation of American Football. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  8. ↑ Halla-aho, Jaane (6 July 2013). "Home / wwc2013 / USA takes the gold medals! USA takes the gold medals!". International Federation of American Football. Archived from the original on 17 November 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  9. ↑ Bieler, Des (23 August 2017). "49ers' Katie Sowers becomes first openly LGBT coach in NFL". Washington Post. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  10. ↑ "BILL WALSH NFL DIVERSITY COACHING FELLOWSHIPATTRACTS RECORD 137 TRAINING CAMP PARTICIPANTS". nflcommunications.com. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
  11. ↑ Bamberger, Jackie (July 23, 2018). "Yes, a Gay Woman Works the NFL Sideline—but Katie Sowers Refuses to Be Sidelined". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  12. ↑ Yang, Avery (22 January 2020). "49ers' Katie Sowers First Female, Openly gay offensive assistant in Super Bowl History". SI.com. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  13. ↑ Wagoner, Nick (January 7, 2021). "Assistant coach Katie Sowers not returning to San Francisco 49ers next season". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  14. ↑ Dajani, Jordan (26 May 2021). "Former 49ers assistant coach Katie Sowers announces she will join Chiefs staff during camp". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  15. ↑ Palmer, Tod (6 October 2021). "Ottawa expands Katie Sowers' role within athletic department". KSHB. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  16. ↑ Buzinski, Jim (22 August 2017). "San Francisco 49ers assistant Katie Sowers is first out LGBT coach in NFL". OutSports. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  17. ↑ "Belated Apology for High-Profile Alumna | Inside Higher Ed". www.insidehighered.com. 24 January 2020.
  18. ↑ Dempsey, Tom (20 September 2018). "Twin Kansas sisters chart own football path". KSHB. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
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