On the way to realizing her football dreams, Antoinette “Toni” Harris is making history in the process. The free safety from Detroit was just offered a football scholarship from Bethany College, an NAIA school in Kansas, which makes her the first female non-kicker to receive such an offer.

Harris has been playing for East Los Angeles College, a community college in California, and her dream is to play in the NFL someday.

Who are we to say she won’t be able to make that happen? She’s already overcome some huge obstacles in life including spending time in foster care at 4 years old and overcoming cancer.

“We were absolutely interested,” Bethany College head coach Paul Hubbard told ESPN. “She definitely has the skill set. We’re always looking outside the box or inside the box to find players. We watched her compete against the kids out there.”

Growing up, Harris was cut from many football teams because of her gender.

“A lot of coaches didn’t believe in me,” Harris told ESPN. “A coach told me nobody’s ever going to play you to be at the next level. In the end, you’ve got to push yourself. I’m going to focus on my goals.”

She was given a chance to compete at Redford Union High School in Michigan as a wide receiver and cornerback before making her presence felt in the secondary at East Los Angeles College.

When she heard about the scholarship offer from Bethany, she told Overtime that she cried for two days “because I had waited for this moment all my life.”

 

 

Harris intends to play another full season at East Los Angeles, where she is an honor roll student. Then she’ll decide where to continue her football career, as other schools have expressed interest as well.

“The sky is not the limit,” she told Overtime. “The sky can never be the limit when there are footprints on the moon.”

And with that attitude, it will certainly be fun to see where Harris lands.