Cincinnati Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn is the first woman ever appointed to the National Football League's Competition Committee, which makes recommendations about rules and points of emphasis to the league's 32 club owners.
Blackburn is the fourth member of the committee in franchise history, joining her grandfather and team founder Paul Brown, her father and team president Mike Brown and Marvin Lewis, the Bengals' head coach from 2003 to 2018.
"I don’t speak for the commissioner and his appointment of committee assignments," said committee chairman and Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, per The Associated Press, "but I must say it seems appropriate that Katie Blackburn would be the first woman appointed to the competition committee.