Leilani Armenta Becomes First Female College Football Player in HBCU History

Despite losing high-profile head coach Deion Sanders to the Colorado Buffaloes, the Jackson State Tigers football program has found ways to continue making headlines. First-year head coach T.C. Taylor made history when he decided to give kicker Leilani Aremnta the chance to become the first female college football player in HBCU history.

Armenta was a last-minute addition to the team due to players’ injuries. She is a soccer player at Jackson State University, but this was not her first experience kicking a football. Born in Ventura, California, Armenta went to Saint Bonaventure High School where she played high school football as both a punter and a kicker.

It remains to be seen if Armenta will be kicking for Jackson State moving forward, but she did a great job of filling in and helping the team defeat the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 22-16 in a much-needed victory after their blowout loss to Texas State.

Armenta tore her ACL in 2022 kicking during the high school football season at St. Bonaventure but has continued to work her way back to playing shape and used the opportunity to kick for Jackson State to help her strength and conditioning.

It will be interesting to see if Armenta tries to juggle both soccer and football during her collegiate career at Jackson State.