Dr. Jen Welter’s Time in NFL May Be Over, but Her Impact is Still Being Felt

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Thinking about Dr. Jen Welter only being in a temporary position seemed to be ignored by a lot of people and if the people that knew, hoped that something magical would happen. Well, it didn’t and sadly, Dr. J is no longer employed by the NFL or the Arizona Cardinals. Though her time was short with the Cardinals, she opened a lot of doors.

With her degree in sports psychology in tow, Welter brought a less biased view of the NFL instead of having to deal with getting cut/fired like a player or coach would. In an interview with Katie Couric, Welter brought up an excellent point about being a female coach in the NFL.

As women are already alienated in sports, she praises the idea of having female coaches in male dominated sports: “I think if you saw the reaction that maybe my players had to having a female coach and loving it, maybe there’s a need for more of that…”

Another issue that Welter brought up is the increased level of domestic violence arrests in the NFL community. Over half of the arrests in the NFL are related to domestic violence which is a crazy statistic in any profession. Welter believes that players should have counseling made available to them in dealing with their relationships. In terms of domestic violence, though, Welter makes an excellent point about it, “They’re not just NFL problems. They’re societal problems” which is something that NFL personnel don’t really talk about.

Welter is the outlier though and she represents a new type of personnel in the NFL. She doesn’t just sit around and watch the issues, she actually stands up for the issues and speaks up about them. However, Welter can only hold that platform if someone else who is willing to hire her. It’s no secret that there are a lot of teams who could benefit with the addition of a woman on their staff. The Arizona Cardinals have already shown what having a woman on the staff can do.