Santia Deck wants to be the "female Barry Sanders," and judging from her resume and videos from the football field, she might not be far off.
Built like a truck and standing just 5-foot-1, Deck calls herself "the queen of abs" and is the highest-paid female football player in the Women's Football League Association, a full-contact women's professional football league.
Using her Saquon Barkley-like legs, she toasts every defender she comes across in tackle and flag football. She can cut, juke and spin with anyone on the gridiron, and she's making a serious name for herself in the football world.
For anyone waiting for the first woman to play in the NFL, Santia Deck might be the best bet.
Santia Deck Football Highlights
Santia Deck is a former track athlete who attended Texas A&M University-Kingsville, so she doesn't lack in the speed department.
She has more than 700,000 followers on Instagram, where she routinely posts videos of her blowing past her opponents. In one video she posted to YouTube, she asked if she was the female version of Barry Sanders, and I can't say I disagree with that statement.
In another video Deck posted on social media, she nearly jukes the shoes off a poor dude's ankles. And check out those hands out of the backfield! Maybe the Dallas Cowboys should give her a call and add her as a running back.
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She grew up around football in Texas. Her three brothers all played the sport, so she naturally gravitated toward it.
"They all played football, they all were running backs — I'm also a running back. So I guess I was kind of pushed into it without me really knowing because I was outside running routes, catching footballs, tackling, doing everything with them but it wasn't something that I was like, 'This is something I want to do long-term.' It was kind of, like, for fun for me because I was so into track," she told Uproxx.
"Honestly, football didn't really become a passion for me until about six years ago when I started playing flag. But it was crazy — like I knew a lot of stuff because when I was young, my brothers were teaching me things that I didn't know I was going to use one day."
Deck previously played in the American Women's Flag Football League and Legends Football League (LFL), where she shined on the football field.
"I've never seen a woman with the speed and agility that Santia possesses," one of her coaches from the LFL's Atlanta Steam told Seizeworthy.
If the WFLA ever airs games on TV, I would 100 percent watch for Santia Deck alone. Good luck to all the girls that have to try and take down this chick in tackle football.
Who is Santia Deck?
Santia Deck became the highest-paid professional female football player when she signed a multi-million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Fames of the WFLA in December 2019.
Born in Greenville, South Carolina, and raised in Houston, Texas, Deck was a fitness trainer and fitness guru who took her love for football and quite literally ran with it. She also has experience in rugby and was asked to try out for the USA women's rugby team prior to the 2020 Olympics but suffered an injury.
Deck is more than just a long-haired ball-carrier. She's a social media influencer, published author, fitness model, TV host and talk show host, and even appeared on Steve Austin's Broken Skull Ranch. She also owns her own sneaker company called TRONUS.
Santia Deck is coming to a football field near you, and I would advise not getting in her way.
