WOMEN

Making the Cut

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Mercer's skills were no fluke. From 1993 to 1996 she had attended former Washington Redskins kicker Mark Mosely's summer camps. In interviews, Mosely has called Mercer "a skilled and accurate placekicker," adding that "from 40 yards in, she was pretty deadly." Though Goldsmith claimed that the other six placekickers could boot it further than she could, Mercer maintains that while a couple of the guys were better than she was, a few were worse. (Division I football teams generally keep 4-6 kickers on the roster, though one or two, usually walk-ons, are considered reserves.)

According to Burton Craige, a Raleigh-based attorney for Mercer, the crux of Goldsmith's rejection of Mercer was less a matter of her skills and more about the media attention generated by having a woman on the team. "This was more attention than the Duke football program had gotten in a decade," said Craige in a recent phone interview.

At the time Mercer tried out for the team, Goldsmith had coached the Blue Devils for only two years. Mercer's lawyer contends that the Duke coach folded under the pressures that may burden any college football coach who has a woman player. Coaches might wonder, for example, how that woman will affect recruiting and how she might prove a distraction to her own team.

In response to these worries, Craige says, "So what? You keep an eye on the bigger picture, and you ride it out. The media will eventually go elsewhere."

Mercer, to her credit, refused to let the media attention distract her. She turned down interview requests from CNN, "USA Today," "The Today Show," and David Letterman. She told a reporter from the "Raleigh News & Observer" that her "attempt to make the team was not a stunt."

Echoes of the Past

Katie Hnida's experience, while in its infancy, has been similar to Heather Mercer's. The media spotlight is just the same - features in the "Washington Post," the "Denver Post," and all manner of posts in between, including a "Sports Illustrated" column by Rick Reilly, all devoted to Katie Mania. She has also declined to be interviewed, stating that she just wants to be part of the team.

The pressures on this head coach are staggering as well. In his first year with the Colorado Buffaloes, Gary Barnett must try to live down the scandals he left behind at Northwestern and still compete with powerhouses like Nebraska and Oklahoma. He has to contend with a new team and a new coaching staff, all in the middle of what "Denver Post" reporter Mark Kinzla calls "America's capital of political correctness." On top of everything else, he's got a girl on his team.

For now, Barnett is keeping Hnida on the roster. Barnett, who calls all of his players by their initials, insists that having "KH" on the team "is not a big deal."

Next page: The future of women in men's sports

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