While speaking to students in Amityville on Monday, Collette Smith said one female student begged to come speak with her.
Smith — a former professional women’s football player who as a coaching intern with the New York Jets in 2017 became the first African American woman, and third female overall, to coach in the NFL — invited her up. The girl told Smith that she loved football but is never allowed to play.
“So, I said, “I went through the same thing. What are you going to do about it today?’” said Smith, 49, a Queens resident.