The NFL boasts female referees, female sideline reporters, female television presenters and even female coaches.
But for 30 years there has been a gap in their coverage, a gap that is set to be filled on the opening weekend of the new season.
A report by Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated has revealed that ESPN will make Beth Mowins the first woman to conduct a play-by-play commentary of an NFL game since 1987 on the 2017 season's first edition of Monday Night Football.
Mowins will be joined in the booth by another first-timer, former New York Jets and Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan, in a bold move by the Connecticut-based broadcaster.
The last woman to call play by play for an NFL regular season game was Gayle Sierens, who commentated on a game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Kansas City Chiefs in the final week of the 1987 season. While Sierens was a success, and then-NBC Sports executive producer Mike Weisman offered Sierens six more games for the following season, the long-time newscaster's local NBC station did not want her to miss any more of her contracted full-time role - and she never commentated on an NFL game again.
Renowned play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico predicted last January that Mowins would be the first woman in a generation to step into the role.
“Beth will show up and do a game and do as good a job as any of the men,” he said. “She is a ceiling-breaker, a pioneer and there will be more women [calling the NFL] going forward.”