Hey, what's up? It's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. You ever see that movie,

Little Giants? It's a kid's movie from the 90s. In it, Rick Moran has played this nerdy guy who has to coach a pee

team made up of your usual cast of lovable losers. Anyway, one of the kids on the team is his

daughter named Becky, nicknamed Icebox because she's tough, right? But one of the kids on the team is his daughter named Becky, nicknamed Icebox, because

she's tough, right?

But one of the threads in the movie is how the team isn't taken seriously because she's a

girl, and girls don't play football, but they do.

And they did, even though on screen and in real life, they've always had to fight to be taken seriously.

Today's interview is about how there was a whole professional women's football league back in the 60s.

Writer Brittany de la Cretta co-wrote a book about it called Hail Mary, the Rise and Fall of the National Women's Football League.

And be ready to cringe when they tell NPR's A. Martinez about the types of questions players used to get from reporters.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.

On our new show, Sources and Methods. NPR reporters

on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events

matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your

podcasts.

I'd be willing to bet most of you know at least a little something about the Women's National Basketball Association or WNBA.

But how about the NWFL, a woman's pro football league?

Not soccer, but the helmet and shoulder pads tackling kind of football.

Well, hopefully it's not a shock to you that women love football, not just watching it, but being paid to play it, too.

Brittany de la Cretta is a freelance writer who focuses on the intersection of sports and gender.

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