Football just got sexier

MANILA, Philippines – In a fluorescent-lit locker room in a California stadium, Liz Gorman arrives for early prep.

A curling iron gives her blonde locks some much-needed bounce. Spray tan gives her skin a bronze sheen. Tweezers even out her eyebrows. Blemishes disappear under liquid foundation. Finally, she adds a pair of false lashes, slicks on pale gloss over luscious lips.

After a few words of advice from her coach, Liz and her teammates approach the stadium entrance. It’s time–not for a beauty pageant–but for a game of body-slamming, expletive-filled, full-contact football.

Dressed in a tight bikins and shoulder pads, the 25-year-old Gorman plays wide receiver for the LA Temptations, just one of 12 women’s teams competing in the Legends Football League. Legends is one of the fastest growing professional sports leagues in the United States, featuring scantily-clad female athletes playing real American football.

Gorman, together with several other LFL players, recently visited Manila to promote the league.

“This is the next trend of women’s sports,” explains the 3-time defensive player of the year. “It’s the evolution of sports. In every sport that you have, it needs to be constantly evolving. There are all these different sports, but we’re bringing in something that’s new and fresh.”

Which, in this case, involves barely-dressed women engaging in full-on rough sports – a fact that doesn’t escape those who wonder if it really is a sport or just a glorified peep show.

“We are real athletes,” says Gorman. Already an athlete since her college days, Gorman was recruited, just like any pro football player, based on her skills on the field.

“I actually had no intention on playing as the name did throw me off because from an athletic standpoint, I wanted to make sure the level of play was there.”

She adds, “And I think that’s very important for people to know because we have developed as athletes over the years and with more awareness we bring more female athletes in because there is that stereotype”— the stereotype that women can’t play in rough sports like their male counterparts.

For obvious reasons, the LFL has more male than female fans. The uniforms – or lack thereof – are obviously partly to blame.

Natalie Jahnke, outside linebacker of the LA Temptations explains that while how they look brings the spectators in, it’s how they play the game that gets them to stay and come back for more.

“The uniforms are what have been drawing people to the game. But as the knowledge of the sport grows and women start to know what we do, that we are real athletes playing full tackle football, I do believe that that will change.”

But why all the make-up? “The difference between this sport and the others is that we care about the entertainment value,” says Gorman. “We are walking billboards in this industry,” which, she admits, was “weird” at first, coming from her years of playing collegiate sports.

“There were certain things that I was thrown off by, but as you understand the industry, you realize that without that marketing, it wouldn’t be this big now. You also want to be camera-ready. And anybody will know what that means when you’re a performer.”

“Face it. You don’t want to come and see men play. When you go to watch the LFL, you want to see us ladies and how we are.” 

And while convincing people that they’re than more than just eye candy has always been a challenge, for Gorman, the only way to prove them wrong is to play well.

“A true athlete just does it. You can say whatever you want but at the end of the day, talking about yourself won’t get you very far. You just play the game, and do it with intensity, and those people that understand the game will know if you’re an athlete.” – Rappler.com

The 2013 LFL US season airs Sundays at 10:30 pm on KIX (Channel 63 on Skycable, Channel 10 on Globe Destiny Cable, Channel 220 on Cable link).