The Washington Redskins have been making many coaching moves to get ready for the upcoming 2020 NFL season, and their latest hire has made history. The Washington Redskins signed Jennifer King as the team’s new full-year coaching intern, becoming the first female African American full-year coaching intern in the NFL.
King joins the small group of female coaches in the NFL that includes Tampa Bay Buccaneers Assistant Defensive Line Coach Lori Locust, Buccaneers Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach Maral Javadifar and San Francisco 49ers Offensive Assistant Coach Katie Sowers.
“It’s important for me to realize that I’m kind of standing on the shoulders of a lot of people myself—people I looked up to,” King said last month on Redskins Nation. “So, it’s important for me to have that positive attitude and outlook for people looking up to me.”
The news of the historical signing came back in February, as head coach Ron Rivera was filling out his coaching roster for the upcoming season. The North Carolina native will work with the offensive coaching staff throughout the year and serve as an assistant to Randy Jordan, the team’s running backs coach.
“Jennifer is a bright young coach and will be a great addition to our staff,” said Rivera in a statement released by the Redskins. “Her familiarity with my expectations as a coach and my firsthand knowledge of her work ethic and preparation were big factors in bringing her to the Redskins.”
Rivera and King have previously worked together, as the Guilford College graduate spent the last two off-seasons working as an intern wide receivers and running backs coach for the Carolina Panthers while Rivera served as the team’s head coach.
Along with her NFL experience, the new coaching intern also has an extensive football coaching experience, holding multiple assistant positions with Dartmouth College and the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football.
King also lined up on the field herself as a quarterback and wide receiver for the Carolina Phoenix, New York Sharks and DC Divas of the Women’s Football Alliance for a combined 14 seasons.
Even though King is busy getting ready for the upcoming NFL draft and 2020 season with the Redskins, she still has her eyes set on being a role model and inspiring the next generation of women in the NFL.
“For the little girls, that’s just what I want for them,” King told ESPN in February, “to let them know, if this is what they want to do, they can do it.”
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