Crawford divides women into two camps: those who play sports and those who don’t. She plays. Basketball and softball, football, of course, as well as golf, which put her through college on scholarship and now provides her with steady work as a pro at a club. Two years ago, she played flag football with a few other women, one of whom had been involved with the International Women’s Football League and wanted to form a team. To Crawford, it was a no-brainer. She’d wanted to play organized, full contact, fully padded football her entire life. The time had come.

She knew what she was getting into. This is not flag football or a pickup game in the park, with courteous blocking and tumbling, and relatively tame tackles. When done right, football is about bodies smashing into each other at high speeds, often when one of the bodies isn’t prepared to get smacked. The hit is valued above all else in this game. The star quarterback, the talented running back, the fleet-footed receiver – all must bow to the hit that levels them.

The hit worries Crawford and most of her teammates, none of whom has taken one yet. Tackling practice can begin when everyone has pads and helmets, and the women feel equal measures of excitement and dread about it. That first contact is going to display to everyone, as the coach said, "who wants to hit and who wants to watch." Crawford wants to hit. She’s pretty sure of that. Almost 100 percent.

The roster lists Crawford as 5-foot-6 and 210 pounds, one of the largest women on the team. She grew up roughhousing with family and friends, and lived a rural life, with cows and horses and a certain level of required aggression. Her golf exploits gave her the mental edge she thinks she’ll need to be a competitor on the football field.

Plus, she’s got attitude – not the flashy trash-talking kind, but the I’m-friendly-but-I-ain’t-taking-any-shit kind. She’s confident, and it shows in her walk. She moves with a subdued but athletic swagger, swinging her broad shoulders, her strong legs propelling her along even though they look a little too short to support her bulky torso. She’s one of the squad’s fastest players and owns very reliable receiver’s hands, making her a natural for the tight end and defensive end slots she’s playing.

Once on the field, she’ll spend a lot of time blocking and scrapping with other women for control of a few feet of turf. She’ll be buried under a lot of bodies. She’ll be stomped on and knocked around, and that’s if she’s doing it right.

That’s why it’s important for her to play now. At 29, she’s not as spry as she used to be. It takes longer to recover from strenuous workouts and all-night parties. Realistically, she only has a few years left to play football.

Her body is also sending signals about another goal – motherhood. Crawford and her partner and teammate, Christie, feel ready to have a child together. Family is as important as football to her, and she wants to do right by both obligations. She couldn’t handle the demands of sport and motherhood at the same time, so she’s taking care of sport now. Crawford doubts she’ll be playing football when she’s 35.