A routine day at the warehouse in November 2018 took a sudden turn when a forklift accidentally ran over Breonna Brewer’s foot.
She was placed on workers’ compensation after the accident while she recovered for six months, resulting in a drastic pay reduction. Her financial stability wasn’t the only issue weighing on her mind.
Brewer’s injury occurred just three months before the Baltimore Nighthawks’ season opener, putting her at risk of missing significant time in only her second season as a safety with the team. The Baltimore Nighthawks are a women’s tackle football team in the Women’s Football Alliance (WFA) — the premier women’s tackle football league in the U.S.
She was eventually ruled out for six months, but Brewer found solace in the fact she was never alone throughout her recovery process.
Nighthawks owner and CEO Tanya Bryan checked in with her weekly, helped her find doctor’s appointments, and provided 24/7 support while Brewer rehabbed and fought to regain financial stability.
“She’s the reason why we all come back every year,” Brewer said. “She put in our minds and made sure we understand that this is more than football, that we’re an actual family. And if we want to have each other’s back on the field, we have to have each other’s back off the field as well.”
Battling barriers
The history of women’s tackle football spans several decades and reflects societal advancements regarding gender roles and opportunities for female athletes.
Prior to the 1960s, women occasionally played informal exhibition games that were not widely recognized. But the start of the women’s liberation movement in the ’60s led to more opportunities for women in sports.
The first semi-professional women’s football leagues were established in the 1970s. Then in 1974, the owners of several teams united to form the National Women’s Football League (NWFL) — originally consisting of just seven teams.
The league grew to include 14 teams across three divisions. It eventually folded in 1989 due to financial difficulties, but it substantially raised the profile of women’s tackle football. Interest in the sport waned somewhat throughout the 1990s, as smaller leagues struggled to rise to prominence.
In the modern era, the creation of the Independent Women’s Football League (IWFL) in 2000 — which played its last season in 2018 — and Women’s Football Alliance (WFA) in 2009 have provided more organized platforms for female athletes.
These leagues have offered a more structured and competitive environment than at any other point in women’s tackle football history.
While interest in the sport has grown over time, these leagues are still running into the same issues as their predecessors. Women’s football leagues often struggle with funding, sponsorship, and media coverage — which limits their growth.
Although the sport is still facing major challenges in terms of visibility and support compared to men’s football, it has made significant advancements since its early beginnings.
This progress is especially evident considering the development of the game since Bryan founded the Nighthawks.
Forming the team
In 2007, Bryan was working various jobs in the financial services industry and running an internet service company when her friend called her out of the blue to gauge her interest in pursuing a women’s football team.
They were willing to pursue any venture at that point, so they decided to give it a shot. Bryan didn’t enter this new journey completely on a whim, though. Her upbringing shaped her love for football.
Bryan’s father served in the Air Force, so her family constantly moved since she was just one year old. She watched her first football game at four years old with her father at the Lakeview Air Force base in England.
Her family’s on-the-go lifestyle prevented her from gaining allegiance to any particular team or player. She supported the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, and Cleveland Browns before coming to Baltimore.
Bryan’s longtime passion for football wasn’t her only advantage when she opted to pivot into the sports realm. Building relationships is one of the most crucial parts of her job.
Her networking skills were easily translated thanks to her engineering background.
She has held myriad positions at consumer products or food manufacturing companies over the last 30 years. And she is currently a senior project manager at TAI Engineering.
“That’s who I am,” Bryan said. “That’s who I’ve been. I’m used to having those conversations. I deal with contractors a lot of the time. I’m juggling different personalities a lot of the time. I don’t like having my time wasted, and I push everybody else to save mine.”
Although she had a strong foundation of skills to take on the challenge of running a professional football team, understanding how to build a cohesive locker room was a learning process during the team’s early years. The Nighthawks posted an 11-20-1 record in their first four seasons.
Bryan said the team’s early struggles stemmed from trying to get as many people as possible involved in this opportunity.
“While there’s some people from those early years that I still have some great friendships with, we weren’t necessarily focused on the athletes and as focused on different things you need from the coaching staff,” Bryan said.
She wasn’t getting the commitment level she wanted from some of the players and coaches. So she started to question whether she was fostering an environment that would produce success.
Those tumultuous years forced Bryan to reevaluate her team-building strategy.
“Everybody’s not going to be an All-American or a rock star athlete, but maybe you still contribute in other ways because your character is strong,” Bryan said. “There are just certain things that you need to have when you’re trying to build a cohesive program because it takes very little to tear a program completely apart.”
She was initially thinking more about providing the opportunity as opposed to building the strongest program and being a dominant football team.
Bryan dedicated herself to reshaping the team philosophy to align with her strong familial values, grit, and “play no games” attitude.
“The culture is competitive,” said head coach Mike Lynn. “We make no bones about speaking about winning a championship, being first class, and how we conduct ourselves and get after it. And our ladies have embraced that.”
Building a culture
Few pro sports owners have genuine connections with each player and staff member of their team.
Outside of former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban and Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, it’s rare to see a sports team owner interact with their “employees” any more than giving a polite greeting and moving on.
This disconnect is often due to the fact that most owners are content to remain at arm’s length so long as things are running smoothly.
As long as the team is making money — and it’s great if they’re winning, too — they’re rarely inclined to form strong relationships with their workers. But that’s not the case for Bryan whatsoever — who also serves as the Nighthawks’ special teams coach.
Her players know exactly what to expect from her every day, giving them the utmost trust in her as a leader on and off the field.
“They know they’re gonna get the truth,” Bryan said. “They know I’m going to take care of any issues that will prevent them from being their best. People get lied to a lot. When you do what you say you’re gonna do. It carries a lot of weight.”
That’s why Bryan brushes off gestures like remaining in close contact with Brewer following her foot injury as nothing more than doing what she’s supposed to do.
Bryan also checks in with third-year defensive end and team captain Andrea Kappler — who tore her ACL this season — every day to make sure she has everything she needs and support her as she recovers.
Bryan’s approach to players doesn’t change whether they are current or former. She keeps her line open to all who have played for the Nighthawks.
“It’s not that hard,” Bryan said. “Communication in 2024 is much easier than it was in the ‘90s. So I always say, ‘If someone tells you they didn’t have time to reach out to you, it’s because they don’t want to.’ Period. I want to, so I just find a way to do it.”
Bryan’s uncanny ability to connect with people and maintain her resolve while wearing various hats is natural to her, but her team remains in constant awe of her poise.
Her close affinity with every member of her team earned her an affectionate moniker.
“We call her ‘Mama Tanya,’” Brewer said. “We know what makes her tick, we know what makes her mad. She has 50 kids at this point right now. Dealing with over 50 personalities and doing what she does as her career, I honestly think Tanya does not sleep. Tanya has to be a superhero or something. She’s not normal. She’s not human. She can’t be.”
Bryan’s superhuman efforts to overhaul Baltimore’s culture has resulted in a team that is extremely united, helping the Nighthawks achieve a 17-12 record and two playoff appearances over the last four seasons.
This chemistry is apparent off the field as well, which is not always the case for high-level teams.
For instance, a player was having a hard time affording everything that she wanted to do for her daughter’s birthday last season. Money was tight so the team sent her money, gifts, and a bunch of balloons for her daughter — all without her even asking.
“I’ve been around teams where they just couldn’t wait to get off the field and get away from each other,” Lynn said. “Our ladies talk and gather afterward and have a good time. They do things together outside of football. They take care of each other, and it shows on the field.”
Still, Bryan’s largest challenge remains bringing people together outside of the locker room to embrace this growing sport. Women and girls are the fastest-growing consumers of American tackle football, so attracting participants isn’t the issue.
Having to scratch claw and nail to garner interest, secure facilities, and raise money has been an endless cycle since she founded the team.
“I sometimes say it feels like we’re on a hamster wheel because I feel like some things are just constant,” Bryan said. “You’re constantly trying to let people know that you’re here. You’re constantly trying to prove that you should have access to these things. And I’m not talking about getting things for free.”
This battle may seem endless, but Bryan doesn’t have to look far for motivation to keep fighting. Her entire roster is composed of women who were denied the opportunity to play tackle football their whole lives.
A significant portion of the Nighthawks roster consists of former high school and collegiate athletes — including sports like rugby, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, flag football and many more — who simply had no access to tackle football.
Kappler’s high school athletic career included every sport you could think of besides football. She ran track, played softball and volleyball, and even competed in cross country for a year. The closest she got to the football field was when she earned her spot on the cheerleading team.
Kappler saw a poster about the Nighthawks at a weightlifting competition in September 2021. She tried out the following week and made the team. In the span of just a few short weeks, she was able to live out a lifelong dream.
“I had just accepted that this is not something that I’m going to be able to do,” Kappler said. “When I was hearing about it, it was a dream come true for me. I was just so excited that there were people like myself, women who wanted to play who have been denied playing for years.”
These pros must also juggle their athletic careers with their full-time duties, but it’s worth it to them to play the sport they were denied. Plus, their loved ones are their biggest fans.
Kappler has been an outpatient nurse practitioner for three years. Prior to that, she was an ICU nurse for eight years. And Brewer currently attends Howard County Community College.
“It just seems like kind of an oxymoronic thing that the headache specialist is playing tackle football,” Kappler said. “But I was really surprised by how many people were very supportive. They become excited just learning about women’s football, like there’s an organized league for it.”
On top of that, Bryan makes sure the team is heavily involved in the local community.
The Nighthawks are mainstays in Baltimore, speaking at schools in the region, working with the Baltimore Ravens to run flag football camps, and participating in events for various charities.
The Nighthawks have collaborated with Healthcare for the Homeless for more than 10 years. They participate in the Chocolate Affair every year — an annual movie night at The Lyric in Baltimore featuring films that reveal how to combat homelessness.
The Nighthawks also work with the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland groups each year to run camps that include workouts, obstacle courses, and other games.
The team helps coach local girls flag football teams and speaks at local schools to encourage the next generation of football players.
“We definitely get involved in the community quite often just to try to push women’s football and let girls know that they can be just as physical as they want to be and not to stick with what society says girls and women should be,” Brewer said.
While changing this perception for children is crucial for the future of the sport, it’s equally paramount that parents and football fans embrace the idea of women leaving it all out on the gridiron.
The common reaction when Nighthawks players interact with parents at local schools is to assume they’re playing in a lingerie league. But once people overcome that mental hurdle, it instantly piques their interest.
“Everyone always wants to see it,” Brewer said. “I am quick to show a highlight. I am quick to show a game so that everyone can know how we really get down. And that’s where people start being interested in wanting to come to a game and everything like that.”
The reality is overcoming those biases will be crucial for advancing the game as we move forward.
“I think people are starting to realize that women literally have the same thought process as men when it comes to athleticism and physicality,” Bryan said. “We don’t have to be soft just because we’re women. I understand the thought process. I think that is coming out, and it’s starting to be expressed more.”
What’s next?
Women’s tackle football has made massive advancements since the inception of the women’s liberation movement.
But Bryan admits the sport still has a long way to go until it enters the mainstream.
“The reality is that even though women’s tackle has been around for over 40 years, people still don’t realize it existed as a sport,” Bryan said. “I think it is certainly unfortunate, but if you look at how things like women’s hockey, women’s basketball, women’s soccer have grown, where the support has to come from to get the sport to that next level, we’re just not there yet.”
While increasing access to tackle football for women will help change this trend, Bryan said growing the sport should ultimately be about raising the level of competition.
“The most important thing for us in women’s tackle was getting away from [the idea that] every woman deserves to play football,” Bryan said. “No. If you’re trying to get to the point where you’re going to be truly pro, it really has to be about the best athletes.”
Bryan stressed she would never take on the challenge of running her own sports league despite her having ideas about how to build one out.
“There are enough of us who have done this for double-digit years that would like to see us get off the hamster wheel,” she said. “There are some very intelligent people in women’s tackle who have been successful inside and outside of football that if we really combine our resources and thoughts, we can move this to the next step.”
Right now, she’s solely focused on bouncing back from the team’s back-to-back heartbreaking finishes to the last two seasons.
In 2023, the Nighthawks blew a 21-point lead to the New York Wolves in the final four minutes of the National Conference Finals to fall out of the playoffs.
They dedicated the 2024 season to avenging that collapse — going so far as breaking every huddle this season with “one, two, three, championship” — but fell short once again in a 27-12 loss against the Atlanta Rage.
Now, the only hurdle the Nighthawks are focused on is getting over the championship hump.
“Our team is full of veterans that are hitting their peak in their football career, so we’re all hungry to give each other that championship before we go,” Brewer said. “We’re playing for each other at this point.”
