By BRAD GRAY
Jessica Springer never really got to deck opponents while playing basketball at Texas Woman’s University.
But when she first tackled somebody while trying out for the Dallas Diamonds football team six years ago, she was hooked.
"It was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is awesome,’ " Springer said. "It’s the only time that you can hit somebody and not get in trouble for it, whether it’s by the law or whatever else."
The 5-foot-9, 206-pound running back/linebacker gained 707 yards and scored 13 touchdowns during the regular season. The Diamonds (8-0) host the California Quake in an Independent Women’s Football League playoff game at 3 p.m. Saturday at Pennington Field in Bedford.
Springer, who lives in North Richland Hills, teaches special-needs children for Keller ISD.
How did you decide to get into football? My graduate assistant at TWU tried out for the Dallas Diamonds and made the team, and she told me when my collegiate time was up she was going to take me out to try out. I tried out and absolutely loved it and made the team.
What sports did you play in high school? I did volleyball, basketball, track and softball. To be able to play now is an opportunity that a lot of women don’t get the chance to have, growing up like a male would. It’s good to be able to do that, especially for a person of my size and stature. I’m a bigger girl but I’m also a fast girl. It’s a perfect combination. I was built to play football, but it’s something that I never got to do growing up.
So that first tackle felt pretty good, right? I can say football is therapy for me. It’s a different feeling and a different mentality from anything I do to just go out there and hit somebody. It’s perfect for my mentality because I do give hits and then I get hit, so I get both ends of it.
Does teaching special-needs children inspire you? It just makes you more humble at the end of the day to know that you have a right mind. We get upset about little things, but people wake up every day with missing limbs or they’re not all there in the head, and we are and here we are complaining about life and here they are not complaining about anything and just happy to be here. It’s a great joy.
How rough do the games get? It hasn’t been as rough as normal because we’re in a different league. I expect it to get rougher because now we’re in the playoffs. If it’s a rough game, the next morning it’s awfully hard for me to get out of bed. I play both sides of the ball, so there’s a little risk involved. I’m hoping, in the playoffs, it will be a bit more of a football game.
