SANTA CLARA (KRON) – History will be made in Miami when the San Francisco 49ers meet the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV.
Katie Sowers, an offensive assistant coach with the 49ers, will become the first woman and first openly-LGBTQ coach to head to the big game.
Sowers has been in the NFL for four seasons serving as an offensive assistant coach.
This is the second season she has been with the San Francisco 49ers, previously working with the Atlanta Falcons.
According to the bio on the 49ers’ team site, Sowers is a former member of the 2013 United States Women’s National Football Team and a player herself in the WFA (women’s football alliance) for eight years total.
The offensive assistant coach earned her master’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in pedagogy from the University of Central Missouri in 2012.
Recently Sowers has been the focus of a television ad campaign for Microsoft Surface that aired during the playoffs.
The commercial shows her reading from a childhood notebook in which she hoped to be a member of a real football team one day.
The advertisement then transitioned to her using a Microsoft Surface tablet to do her job as an assistant coach for the 49ers.
“I’m not just here to be the token female,” Sowers says in the commercial. “I’m here to help us win.”
While Sowers has found a home in the NFL, the journey has been far from easy.
In an interview with People Magazine, Sowers explained that through the obstacles she’s faced, making an impact and sparking change for those with similar dreams makes it all worth it.
“I see young girls out there almost every game, and someone’s mom or dad is yelling to me, saying, ‘my daughter wants to play football,’ or, ‘my daughter is going to be a coach.’ And those are the moments where it’s worth it,” Sowers said.
The 49ers and the Chiefs will face off at the Super Bowl LIV on Sunday, Feb. 2, in Miami at the Hard Rock Stadium.
