Tom Brady (R), Dr. Jen Welter (L).Photo:Jon Kopaloff/Getty; David Livingston/Getty
Jon Kopaloff/Getty; David Livingston/Getty
In March,Tom Bradysaid it was “an honor” to acquire apartial stake in the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, and Dr. Jen Welter, the first woman to coach in the NFL, predicts more investments in the retired athlete’s future.
Welter became the league’s first woman to coach in 2015 as a coaching intern under Bruce Arians for the Arizona Cardinals. Currently, she’s on the coaching staff for the Vegas Vipers of the XFL.
She continues, “Because one of the things that people don’t realize is when you start at the top, you have to stay at the top. In men’s sports, the [Washington] Commanders sold for, what, $6 billion? Anything that you do that isn’t worth the billions, you’re not even in the club.”
Bryan Bedder/Getty
Welter thinks Brady’s investment into the women’s basketball team (who also happen to be the WNBA’s reigning champions) makes the former NFL star ahead of the curve.
“We are just now starting to see the stride and the upside potential of women’s sports,” she says.
Another factor Welter thinks pushed Brady to purchase stake in the team? “He has a daughter,” says Welter.
She explains, “If we could all live in empathy, we would have a much better world. But, when you start to look at the world through the lens of someone who means everything to you, everything changes. There are very few girl dads who don’t look at the world and want the best for their daughters, just like they do their sons.
Tom Brady kisses daughter Vivian at New England Patriots ceremony honoring the retired quarterback.JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images
JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images
“Cheers to Tom Brady. I love the investment, and I think he’ll do more of it.”
Welter is getting involved in women’s sports through another method, a partnership with Barbie, as Mattel announces its' newWomen in Sports Barbie Collection,which features general manager, coach, referee and sports reporter Barbies.
Barbie launches 2023 Women in Sports collection.Courtesy of MATTEL
Courtesy of MATTEL
Welter tells PEOPLE, “For me personally, I grew up loving football and it was the first place in the world that somebody told me girls can’t do that.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
She continues, “I never was able to see myself doing a lot of the things that have now been done for girls and women in, not only as a player, but as a coach or as a referee — or even reporting back then was very male-dominated.”
Welter poses an important question about pockets of football culture. “Football being America’s game, the game that took over Sundays and found its way into Thanksgivings and all of those things, is this larger than life game where guys look like superheroes. I know for me and a lot of the women who played, we also heard very distinctly that football was the final frontier for women in sports. I know for me, I took that as a challenge. If this is America’s game, how can it be America’s game if women aren’t allowed to play?”
source: people.com
