Meet Shelby Osborne: College Football’s only FEMALE Football Player (INTERVIEW)

Just the other day, Shelby Osborne a small Indiana girl was given a major blessing. She sent out numerous emails and letters to schools to give her a shot at living her dream.  All she wanted to do is play college football.  Well Shelby was blessed when Campbellsville University called her and gave her her letter of intent.  Campbellsville is an NAIA school in Kentucky, and she is the only female football player on the books.  This is an incredible story, so we wanted to interview her as well as the school to see how this entire thing unfolded. 

The numbers are so numerous I couldn’t even tell you to be honest. I filled out recruitment forms and emails since the end of the season every single day!  When I do anything I never back down until I get where I and God want me to be!

Campbellsville giving me a shot to earn my keep in the collegiate level means the world to me! It couldn’t have been a more perfect fit , and once I signed I was in my car crying for like twenty minutes praying that ‘if this wasn’t real, God, don’t wake me up from my dream.’ I’ve given everything I could possible give to get here, and I’m willing to give everything I can possibly give to this team.

I believe if you really want to achieve your dream you must want it as bad as your next breath. I model my life after the ‘how bad do you want it’ speech by Eric Thomas. I gave everything from waking up before everyone in my house was awake to run before school, joining track, weightlifting and sports performance classes  during school to staying after with the coaches every day after practice just to improve my skill a little bit more. I don’t return home from training till eight or nine o’clock on most nights. My sacrifice and determination is what separates me from anyone else because somewhere out there are opponents training harder then you to be you.

I tell the girls that message me asking the same thing…. Never say you can’t. Never say girl, female or women. No excuses, show up on time, say ‘yes sir,’ ‘no sir.’ You have to be the model athlete, work harder than the guys and never back down, but the best advice I can give is if you’re going to play scared, step off the field because those moments are the moments you will get hurt. You can NEVER EVER play scared.

Offense may win games, but defense wins championships! You can call me a band wagon jumper if you want, but you can ask any guy on the team I called the Seahawks’ Super Bowl win back in November. They have the best defense in the league. Richard Sherman is my favorite current player. He is a scholar athlete at the college level and is a very intelligent man with a mind for football. He came from an area that is known for some of the worst schools in the nation and overcame these obstacles to succeed. He strives to be the best not only on the field but also off in areas such as the class room which exemplifies his charter and striving to be the best full circle. Also my favorite non-current player is Tim Tebow. He exemplifies what I want to be. When put on a platform, all the glory goes to God. His hard work and dedication is unmatched and he wants to show what God can do through him.

I believe it is 2020, if I’m not mistaken, that football goes in the Olympics. Every Olympic sport has a male and female team, and I think it would be great to bring the first Olympic gold medal in women’s football home around my neck, but I will go wherever God takes me.

Well it was the sectional championship game of my junior year, and we weren’t playing so hot or even to the best of our ability. I said, ‘I could play better than that,’ and that’s what planted the seed, and it began to embed in my mind that this might actually be possible!

Thank you, but I do not see myself as a trend setter though. I just followed my dreams and did anything I could to achieve so. Anybody can do it. They just have to have those three seconds of bravery to actually take the leap, but once you do, you will never go back! Those who are crazy enough to believe they can change the world are the ones that do the unknown.