All-time NFL team of players with female first names

March 8 is International Women’s Day. The sports world has made many leaps towards inclusion and equality — and numerous setbacks in the process. We salute the trailblazers who kicked the doors down and to those who are removing barriers every single day.

As a fun little exercise, we have assembled an all-time team of NFL players who have names more readily identified with the fairer sex. Listed below are the number of reported U.S. births for females and males the same year the player was born, according to Social Security Administration data (not including similar spellings or nicknames). The players’ names are as they where known during their playing career according to Pro Football Reference, and may not reflect their birth name. (For example, Fran Tarkenton was born Francis, but the statistics reflect the name Fran.)

Offense		Born	Female	Male
QB	Fran Tarkenton	1940	60	*
RB	Christine Michael	1990	5,675	26
FB	Marion Motley	1920	5,745	1,603
WR	Lynn Swann	1952	5,816	1,589
WR	Gail Cogdill	1937	2,633	218
TE	Shannon Sharpe	1968	6,402	1,705
LT	Kenyatta Walker	1979	198	118
LG	Courtney Hall	1968	649	185
C	Connie Zelencik	1955	9,975	137
RG	Gale Gillingham	1944	383	283
RT	Tootie Robbins	1958	5	*
Defense		Born	Female	Male
DE	Danielle Hunter	1994	12,448	38
DT	Dee Hardison	1956	469	87
DT	Dana Stubblefield	1970	6,408	1,038
DE	Shante Carter	1971	53	*
LB	Leslie O’Neal	1964	5,602	1,445
LB	Erin Henderson	1986	10,067	201
LB	Whitney Mercilus	1990	5,905	77
CB	Tracy Porter	1986	2,425	342
S	Kerry Rhodes	1982	937	412
S	Kim Herring	1975	1,480	164
Special Teams		Born	Female	Male
K	Toni Linhart	1942	542	14
P	Kelly Goodburn	1962	11,531	2,856
KR	Gayle Sayers	1943	1,423	131
Coach		Born	Female	Male
	June Jones	1953	2,264	27