Remember YouTube football sensation Sam Gordon? She’s back in Utah — and back on the gridiron

When the Super Bowl commercial aired, the pony-tailed tailback had already become a global advocate/ambassador for girls tackle football.

There was a “Good Morning America” appearance. Her image was featured on a one-of-a-kind Wheaties cereal box. And the NFL presented her with its inaugural “Game Changer” award.

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And, perhaps most importantly, Gordon helped start the Utah Girls Tackle Football League — offering girls in the Beehive State an opportunity to play the same sport as their dads, granddads and brothers.

So what’s Sam Gordon up to today?

Gordon’s grown a few inches since those initial YouTube videos.

And she has an Ivy League diploma now sharing wall space with her football pictures. After graduating from high school, she moved to New York City to play DI college soccer at Columbia University and study film and psychology.

But now Gordon’s back in Utah, and back doing what she loves: Playing tackle football and, yes, scoring a lot of touchdowns.

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Gordon is a two-way player — halfback and middle linebacker — for the Salt Lake Wildcats.

It’s a first-year squad competing in the Women’s Football Alliance (WFA) — a national organization that bills itself as “the largest, longest running, and most competitive women’s tackle football league in the world.”

One of Gordon’s longtime friends, Wildcats quarterback Laura Goetz, was pivotal in organizing the team, which is competing in the WFA’s Division 2 for its maiden season.

The pro-am Wildcats have yet to lose a game (5-0) — and they’re averaging over 60 points a match. So a promotion to the league’s premier division seems a logical move in the team’s future.

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And it helps that the Wildcats boast a celebrated star such as Gordon who hasn’t forgotten how to slip tackles, find the end zone and draw media attention.

For Gordon, transitioning from college “fútbol” to tackle football, “has been so fun.”

“I had forgotten how much I missed playing football. There’s just nothing like putting those pads on and getting to hit again. … I loved playing soccer — but football is where my heart’s always been.”

Playing football once again is also a welcome surprise.

When Gordon graduated from Herriman High School and headed east to Columbia, she assumed her tackle football career belonged to YouTube and the past.

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She admits battling butterflies when she pulled on shoulder pads and a helmet for the first time in years to train with the Wildcats.

“I was definitely shaking out those nerves,” she said. “I didn’t feel as aggressive on defense and was hesitating to make my cuts — but now I feel like I’ve gotten back into the swing of things.”

As a Wildcat, Gordon has emerged as one of the division’s leading scorers and remains a touchdown threat every time Goetz hands her the ball.

Becoming a YouTube pigskin hero

Anyone who has followed Sam Gordon’s tackle football adventures for more than a decade is familiar with her story.

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She grew up in the southwest end of the Salt Lake Valley, passing the football with her family in the backyard and terrorizing recess pickup football games.

Nine-year-old Sam would tag along to her older brother’s youth league football practices and run wind sprints with the guys.

“And I’d beat most of the players on the team,” she said, still relishing the memory.

Soon Sam was a full-fledged team member of the boy’s tackle team — and soon her highlight videos began appearing online. It looked like she had hacked her games with cheat codes, dodging and dashing past players almost double her size — and then delivering big hits on defense.

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“I just fell in love with it,” she said.

By the time she was 12, Gordon was playing in the newly organized Utah Girls Tackle Football League. She was already a household name for many football fans and a seasoned media personality in front of the camera.

“Looking back, I can’t believe that it happened,” she said. “It still feels a little surreal that I was able to meet so many people and have all those experiences. But it was a lot of fun.”

Her unique experiences paid dividends beyond football.

“It helped a lot with my public speaking ability and things that carried over into college, like having the confidence to speak up in classrooms,” said Gordon.

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Her decision to study film in college was prompted by witnessing the reach and influence of today’s evolving communication platforms. “The power of the media to change my life — and the entire course of girls football in Utah — was incredible.”

Gordon’s media exposure allowed her to be more than an athlete. She became an advocate for something larger than herself: developing tackle football opportunities for females.

No surprise, advocacy triggers a few trolls.

Sandwiched between the wide support of Gordon’s athletic development were the mean-spirited comments.

“It was always funny to see grown men commenting on my 9-year-old’s post and telling me that I could never make it in the NFL. Or boys my age telling me that they would crush me on the field. Or the typical ‘Go get me a sandwich’ comments; that type of thing.”

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At those moments, young Sam fell back on the support of her family and friends — and then kept scoring touchdowns.

And she adopted a strategy that is still serving her well: “When you’re trying to make a change, look for like-minded people — and don’t struggle against the people who think you’re wrong.”

Filming a classic Super Bowl commercial

People often ask Gordon if she was able to meet all of the “Who’s Who in the NFL” players featured in the 100th season Super Bowl commercial.

Actually, no.

Most of the folks captured in the Sam Gordon clip were background extras — but she was still able to work for several hours in Los Angeles with Richard Sherman and Saquon Barkley.

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“That was super fun, and they were both really cool to talk with and were very supportive,” she said.

And here’s a few fun bits of Super Bowl commercial trivia: The directors had to put glue on Gordon’s hand because it was too small to palm an NFL-size football.

And early in the filming, Barkley split his pants jumping over a player — so they had to halt production for a few moments to deal with a wardrobe malfunction.

Most of Gordon’s friends and fans knew nothing about her Super Bowl commercial cameo prior to the Big Game. “So when it (aired), everyone freaked out. It was incredible.”

When Gordon moved to New York City, her new Columbia classmates were largely unaware of her former life scoring touchdowns and shooting commercials with NFL stars.

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But whenever the Lions played a soccer game on TV, the commentators inevitably brought up Gordon’s exciting football past. And even students with no interest in sports realized something was different about Gordon when they would swap Instagram accounts and discover their new Utah friend had tens of thousands of followers.

What’s the future for female tackle football in Utah?

Goetz is a year younger than her Wildcat backfield mate, Sam Gordon.

The two were both rivals and good friends growing up. And, like Gordon, Goetz grew up loving tackle football and seizing any opportunity to play.

The West Jordan native played in the local girls tackle football league and, after high school graduation, eventually started playing women’s flag football.

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Women’s flag football is a growing global sport that will be part of the Olympic Games for the first time at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

Goetz enjoys flag football. But the modified version of the sport, she added, can’t match the joy of playing tackle football.

“So I thought, ‘Let’s create a team and make something where these girls who are graduating (from high school) have an opportunity to continue their football careers.”

Forming a tackle football team such as the Salt Lake Wildcats is, well, a noseguard-sized endeavor. Besides curating a team roster, organizers have to secure facilities, equipment, coaches, trainers and media promotion.

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But for Goetz and others associated with the upstart Wildcats, it’s been an exhausting labor of love.

The existing Utah Girls Tackle Football League has been a key resource to get started. “And we are intertwined with the girls league in every way,” said Goetz.

Goetz pauses for a moment when asked about the future of women’s tackle football in Utah. Like any good quarterback, she’s both hopeful and cautious.

Over the past several years, she said, women’s tackle football has grown — but not dramatically.

A few years ago, a lawsuit demanding that the Utah High School Activities Association sponsor girls tackle football was unsuccessful. And local high schools don’t offer girls football as a club sport.

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Meanwhile, added Goetz, teams such as the Wildcats are classified as “semi-pro” — but it really functions as a club. Players pick up the tab for many of the expenses, including travel.

But despite obstacles, Goetz remains motivated to help create a future for local women’s tackle football “where players don’t have to decide whether they’re going to make their car payment or football payment.”

And, she added, Utah is a “football hotbed.” She is certain tackle football for females can work here.

“I want to see tackle football provided to these women with equal opportunity.”

So what’s next for No. 6: Sam Gordon?

Even as Sam Gordon relishes her return to tackle football, she knows that every athlete has a competition expiration date. But her desire to advocate for her sport won’t end when she plays her final game.

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“I’m planning to go to law school somewhere on the West Coast,” said Gordon, the daughter of an attorney.

While the Title IX lawsuit pushing for girls tackle football in Utah high schools did not end as Gordon and others had hoped, the process sparked her interest in the legal profession.

Having skilled attorneys join the legal cause for girls tackle football in Utah added another level of legitimacy to the effort.

“That experience is something that I want to replicate going forward,” Gordon said. “I can be an advocate for others.”