If you've paid any attention to the NFL playoffs in the last few seasons, you have certainly seen the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 commercial featuring former San Francisco 49ers offensive assistant coach Katie Sowers. She's a complete badass and continues to make history.
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Back in 2017, when she was a seasonal offensive assistant with the Niners, Sowers became the first-ever open LGBTQA coach in league history. Then, after San Francisco took down the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game, she became the first female assistant to ever reach the big game.
So when Super Bowl LIV kicked off in Miami between the 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, she became the first full-time female coach to ever do so.
Who is Katie Sowers?
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
A Hesston, Kansas native, former-49ers assistant coach Katie Sowers grew up loving the game of football. She even played in the Women's Football Alliance after she graduated from the University of Central Missouri.
Sowers played for the West Michigan Mayhem and Kansas City Titans and represented the United States during the 2013 IFAF Women's World Championship. She retired in 2016 due to a hip injury and then began her climb to be an NFL coach.
Her first job was a training camp assistant and wide receiver's intern with the Atlanta Falcons before she became an intern scout. Sowers' work was definitely noticed by offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and the rest is history after he became the 49ers coach.
Although she was a seasonal offensive assistant for two years, her patience paid off in a big-time way. Sowers was promoted before the 2019 season and now works on the sideline with offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
"Katie did a real good job for us in Atlanta, she's done a really good job here. She helps [receivers coach] Mike LaFleur out, just with some rotations and she helps our quality control [coaches] out just with all the stuff they have to do. She's a hard worker, you don't even notice her because she just goes to work and does what's asked."
— Head Coach Kyle Shanahan, via OutSports
Where is Katie Sowers Now?
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
After her stint with the Niners, Sowers announced she'd be heading into training camp with the Kansas City Chiefs as a part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, but an even bigger opportunity was just around the bend. In October of 2021, the University of Ottawa offered Sowers a position as OU's Director of Athletic Strategic Initiatives. One of Sowers's duties is in growing the women's flag football program. The Ottawa Braves flag football team has since won back-to-back NAIA National Invitational Championships, with Sowers working as Defensive coordinator. Needless to say, it seems like a threepeat may be in the cards in the future.
From intern to a full-time assistant coaching position to the leader of a collegiate athletic program.
The first only Gay coach in history.
The first female coach in Super Bowl history.
Most of us would sit back and relax after making NFL history, but that's not Sowers's style. No way.
Katie Sowers is changing the game and she's not done yet.
This article was originally posted on January 20th, 2020, and has been updated since.
