The Tackle Girls – One Team, One Mission

From Megan Smith-Harris

Quarterback Sami Grisafe performed her signature version of the national anthem, singing with her ukulele, prior to the start of the world championship game where she went on to win the Gold Medal. In addition to Sami’s all-star football career, she is an accomplished singer-songwriter and recording artist. Sami’s current album, ATLANTIS, is refreshingly diverse and features a moving title song duet between two women with LA-based former Universal Republic recording artist Shannon Nicole. ATLANTIS received 6 pre-nominations for the first round of the 2012 Grammy’s and features Grammy Award-winning blues artist Sugar Blue (Rolling Stones), and hip-hop sensation Viper (Follow Your Instinct). The album was co-produced by Grammy Award winner, Ricciano Lumpkins (TLC, P.O.D., Mya).

Quarterback Sami Grisafe, an out all-star athlete and singer-songwriter, earned the World Championship MVP title and was named to the World All-Star Team as Quarterback for Team USA during the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Women’s World Championship for tackle football in Finland on July 6, 2013.

Amidst recent stories of young girls challenging the status quo to play tackle football, Sami Grisafe was one of 45 women who represented the United States in women’s tackle football on a world stage. Grisafe first made made national news in 2000, when she became the first female quarterback in the history of California Interscholastic Federation Division 1 athletics to compete in a varsity game. She continued to grow in the sport playing 7 seasons for the Chicago Force women’s tackle football team. During the 2013 regular season, Grisafe had a 62.5 completion percentage, 2,582 passing yards, 32 touchdown passes and a sparkling 131.3 passer rating.

Sami Grisafe and the US women’s team took the World Championship tournament by storm with record-setting defeats of Sweden (84-0) and Germany (107-7) in pool play, followed by a 64-0 thrashing of Canada in the gold medal game. Sami’s three-game tournament total was 626 passing yards, nine touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown earning her the World Championship MVP title. 2013 was Sami’s second consecutive appearance in the World Championship as the Team USA Quarterback. In 2010, she threw the first touch down ever in a women’s international tackle football competition.