Sports Illustrated and Empower Onyx are putting the spotlight on the diverse journeys of Black women across sports—from the veteran athletes, to up-and-coming stars, coaches, executives and more—in the series, Elle-evate: 100 Influential Black Women in Sports.
When Adrienne Smith was 7 years old, her father bought her a football for Christmas and taught her how to throw a perfect spiral. As she grew up, Smith would play with the boys in the neighborhood, but it wasn’t until she became an adult that she found out there was a women’s professional tackle football league.