Episode 343: Teacher by Day, Women’s Tackle Football Player by Night

She is a teacher by day and plays defensive line for the Utah Falconz at night and on weekends.

On this episode of the Supercast, meet West Jordan High School business and financial literacy teacher Makayla Brown who has a passion for playing women’s tackle football in the premier semi-pro league. Hear how this teacher balances her time in the classroom with her love for being on the football field taking on teams from all over the country, part of the Women’s National Football Conference.

Makayla Brown:
When I heard about the Falconz, I moved to Utah and this is my fourth season with the Falconz and it's a lot of fun. It's a great sport, great community. I honestly think the mental aspect is sometimes harder than the physical, but it's definitely taught me resilience, how to problem-solve, how to navigate challenging situations, and I feel like sports can be implemented in many walks of life.

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. She is a teacher by day and plays defensive line for the Utah Falconz at night and on weekends. On this episode of the Supercast, meet West Jordan High School Business and Financial Literacy teacher, Makayla Brown, who happens to have a passion for playing women's tackle football in the Premier Semi-Pro League. Hear how this teacher balances her time in the classroom with her love for being on the football field, taking on teams from all over the country as part of the Women's National Football Conference.

Anthony Godfrey:
We are here at West Jordan High School talking with a teacher who also happens to be on the Utah Falconz football team. Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your involvement in the team.

Makayla Brown:
Hi, I'm Makayla and I'm a teacher here at West Jordan High School. This is my first year here. I play for the Utah Falconz. I've played defensive end, middle linebacker, and a little bit of offensive guard. This is my fourth season with the Falconz and it's a lot of fun. It's a great sport, great community, great team. They've really become my family.

Anthony Godfrey:
And to clarify, you go by Mack, and the Falconz go by Falconz with a Z at the end. So let's just clarify all that. Is that right?

Makayla Brown:
That's right. That's correct.

Anthony Godfrey:
Mack, tell us about, for those who are not football fanatics, tell me about the responsibilities in the positions that you play on the Falconz.

Makayla Brown:
Yeah, so defensive end, your job is containing that outside edge. Also looking for the quarterback, the possibility that you could hopefully sack the quarterback, that's one of the main positions there. Middle linebacker, you're protecting that middle field, watching for runs, and shutting down those, making big defensive stops when possible.

Anthony Godfrey:
And tell me, what do you love most about playing for the Utah Falconz?

Makayla Brown:
I would say what I love most is just the community that it brings. I moved here from Virginia, and I didn't have any family or friends here. And within one practice, I made a whole family of over 30 girls that support me, and we just have each other's backs, and it's just become like a really big family, and we're just all super involved. I think also just being able to continue my athletic career. I played softball in college, and after that I was just wanting to do something else. When I heard about the Falconz, I moved to Utah and it's been a blast.

Anthony Godfrey:
So did you move to Utah to play on the Falconz?

Makayla Brown:
I did, yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, that's awesome. Tell me about that. How did you find out about the Falconz, and that's a big leap.  I've lived here for a long time, so it's really interesting to think that you'd say, "Alright, I'm going to move, I'm going to do this."

Makayla Brown:
Yeah, it was definitely a big leap for sure. I found out about it. A girl I played softball with in college. I happened to see one of her Facebook posts one day, and she had posted that she was on this women's professional tackle team, and I instantly sent her a message and asked like, "How do I join? I would love to be a part of it." And she told me to come to Utah and come to tryouts, and so over the summer I applied for jobs and luckily landed a job here with Jordan School District. I moved out here in August and I tried out in October and made the team and I've been with the team ever since.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow, that's awesome. So was that your first football tryout when you came out here to try out for the team, or had you played football before?

Makayla Brown:
It was my first official tryout. In high school, I played like powder puff or flag football but nothing super formal so that was like the first.

Anthony Godfrey:
And not tackling taking people to the ground either?

Makayla Brown:
Yeah, no that was completely brand new. Definitely a steep learning curve. I had a lot to learn. It was very humbling at times, but yeah, brand new, brand new sport essentially.

Anthony Godfrey:
I think that's really cool that you moved out here for that, and learned about it through a softball connect. Tell me about your team. What's the season? How many games? Where do you travel to? And I read on the website it's semi-professional, so what exactly does that mean?

Makayla Brown:
So our season runs typically from the first of April through the end of May is our regular season. We play six games. Three of those are home games, which this season is located at Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake City, and then we play three away games. Our away games this year are in Portland, Oregon and then we also are traveling to San Diego and then also Los Angeles for our games this season.

Anthony Godfrey:
So that's exciting. And are those same teams coming to play you?

Makayla Brown:
So we actually have three different teams coming to play us. This year we're playing Kansas City which will be for the first time. We've never played them in a regular season game. We will also be playing the Seattle Majestics and then Las Vegas as well.

Anthony Godfrey:
And is the league growing? Are there more and more teams and more and more opportunities to play?

Makayla Brown:
Yes absolutely. Just in the last year we've added two new teams. We've added the Golden State Storm which is based out of Sacramento, California, and then also the Jersey Shore Waves, which is in New Jersey.

Anthony Godfrey:
If someone wants to catch a home game, is there a home game in May?

Makayla Brown:
There is. There are two home games in May, and actually I was able to talk with our general manager over our team and anyone in Jordan District. If they bring their badge they can get into a game for free to honor teachers and give back to the community. That's something we really pride ourselves in as community involvement and giving back to as many people as we can.

Anthony Godfrey:
Outstanding. Well we'll put that in the show notes but we'll also email that out to employees and make sure that they all know to come. And you play those at Judge Memorial, is that right?

Makayla Brown:
Yes sir. Yep Judge Memorial all of our games are at 6 p.m. and so we play in the evening which is nice it's not as hot.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay great, and tell me about the rules is it is it similar to NFL or how does it vary?

Makayla Brown:
Yeah, great question that's a question we get asked quite a bit. We follow NCAA guidelines so very similar to college football. The only difference we have is instead of a pick six it's a pick nine, so if we're able to intercept and run it for like run it back, it actually counts for nine points instead of six.

Anthony Godfrey:
Pick nine? Is the scoring the same otherwise?

Makayla Brown:
Yes sir, the scoring is the same completely otherwise that's just one little I guess perk or bonus we have.

Anthony Godfrey:
The pick nine I'm gonna declare right now that the NFL and the NCAA need to start the pick nine. I like that. That's there ought to be a bonus if you can if you can intercept the ball and take it all the way back. I like that a lot, okay great. Well, let's all go out in May and let's see a couple of pick nines. Are they, are they are they happening for the Falconz this season? Have there been any pick nines yet?

Makayla Brown:
I sure hope so. We've had two preseason scrimmages and we've done really well so hopefully a pick nine is in our future for sure.

Anthony Godfrey:
Alright we're gonna watch for that, we're gonna watch for that. Is it the same number of players on the field at the same time same positions all of that's the same?

Makayla Brown:
Yes everything's the same we have 11 players on each side of the ball all other rules apply so yeah everything's pretty much the same as in NCAA college.

Anthony Godfrey:
Okay tell me about your quarterback.

Makayla Brown:
Yeah so our quarterback, we have a new quarterback this year, her name's Sarah she is a rookie to our team. In the past,  played flag football but this is her first year playing tackle and she's done a phenomenal job, not only on the field but also like as a teammate uplifting others and being a real leader for our team.

Anthony Godfrey:
How about your coaching staff? Is it coach Rasmussen that's your head coach?

Makayla Brown:
Yes Coach Rick, Coach Rick Rasmussen. He is our head coach this year. He is a former ….  he's a veteran from the military, so he can be very strict at times, very. He means business on game days, but he has been an awesome coach and an awesome asset to our team. This is actually my first year with him being the head coach. He coached several years ago, was the head coach for a few years, but it's been really cool getting to know him and understanding his coaching style and his strategy, and yeah it's been great having him.

Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back. More with Michaela Brown and her experience as a player on the Utah Falconz.

Male Voice:
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Sandy Riesgraf:
Hello, I'm Sandy Riesgraf, Director of Communications for Jordan School District, and we want to invite you to connect with us. So many exciting things are happening in your child's school, your neighbor's school, in every school here every day. Don't miss out on following the fun or simply staying informed when there's important information we need to share. Join us at jordandistrict.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @Jordan District. We can't wait to connect.

Anthony Godfrey:
You talk about the difference between softball and football. You're really deciding to go into the fray with football getting knocked around, your quarterback was used to flag football, but not getting knocked down. Tell me tell me about overcoming those bumps and bruises compared with softball.

Makayla Brown:
Yeah, definitely, I was very fortunate during my softball career, minor injuries of the concussion, nothing too crazy.

Anthony Godfrey:
No softballs to the face?

Makayla Brown:
No, thankfully. My mom was very adamant about me wearing a face guard because I had braces and she did not want that to get messed up.

Anthony Godfrey:
Messing up your face is one thing, messing up expensive braces that's another.

Makayla Brown:
That's right. Yes. No, we wore a face mask, so thankfully no softballs to the face but football is definitely very different I unfortunately tore my ACL two years ago during the 2024 season. I've had a few surgeries since then to try to fix it and I'm actually having another ACL reconstruction surgery during spring break. So it's definitely a very tough sport I think that's taught me a lot just recovering from injury and having to kind of shift my role on the team a little bit, going from playing to having that taken away for quite a lot of time due to the recovery, but it's still a part of part of the game, part of the learning, and it's I don't know it's made me who I am today I guess so.

Anthony Godfrey:
Softball and football are very different, like you said, football's more physical and a very contact sport but there are …. toughness is required in every sport and I'm sure that that that need for toughness mentally and physically has as translated into the rest of your life and been important to you. Tell me about the comparison what do you like about each?

Makayla Brown:
Yeah absolutely, I've definitely played more softball in my life but football hopefully we'll get there towards the same amount of years.

Makayla Brown:
Oh man it's hard to compare, it's like apples and oranges but there's like a lot of similarities. I think one of the first things I learned was just like learning how to get into like an offensive stance on the line and I really I feel like struggled with that more than I should have first learning. One of my teammates kind of compared it. She's like, “okay, what sport have you played before?” I was like, “well I played softball.” She's like, okay, she's like, “when you're batting how do you stand?” and so I did my stance, and she's like, “yeah, that's exactly what you need to do,” obviously not with a bat in your hand. That made like such a huge connection for me and then I think I tried really hard to relate everything I was doing in football to something that I could relate it to because of my previous knowledge of softball. I think that helped me excel on the field. Yeah, as far as comparisons, I mean I think football and softball are both very mental and physical sports. I think football is a little bit more physical in the sense that it's way more of a contact sport. You definitely get knocked down many times, but all in all, I mean softball has my heart because that's what I grew up playing. I started when I was four years old but football is definitely a close second now that I found it and found a team and I feel like it's my home away from home.

Anthony Godfrey:
So really football, it wasn't necessarily football itself that you were drawn to, but it was the chance to continue in athletics and to maybe expand your skills and try something new.

Makayla Brown:
Yeah absolutely, anyone who knows me knows I can't sit still. I like hardly ever say no to anything. I always just want to be busy and on the go and learning new things. I constantly love learning and it definitely football was very humbling for me. It was a huge learning curve because I thought I knew football pretty well because I watched football, I was a cheerleader, I cheered for football. I was very familiar with a lot of the football concepts, but it's a whole different ball game when learning to play it, and I was humbled very quickly.

Anthony Godfrey:
I think it's amazing that you've been able to do all of those things that you've been able to switch. There's a Sammy Hagar lyric that talks about “when was the last time you did something for the first time” and I think it's really cool that you're just doing this this new thing out of the blue. George Carlin used to compare softball or baseball and football and say, “football's on a grid iron and baseball's on a diamond. You wear a helmet for football and you wear a cap for baseball,” but it takes some toughness in both sports because you've got, you've got a ball hurling at you in softball, and in football you're knocking people around. So there's a toughness I guess, that you learn whatever sport that you're a part of. Has that translated over to the rest of your life?

Makayla Brown:
Oh absolutely I think with sports, softball and football, I've it's definitely taught me mental physical toughness I honestly think the mental aspect sometimes harder than the physical. But it's definitely taught me resilience, how to problem-solve, how to navigate challenging situations and I feel like sports can be implemented and many walks of life in many different ways. I've always found that to be a good way to kind of relate things if needed.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah for sure. You've been at West Jordan this year. Where were you before, and what subjects do you teach?

Makayla Brown:
So before I was at West Hills Middle. For three years at West Hills, I taught Digital Literacy, Business Office Specialist, and Exploring Business And Marketing, so mostly business classes, which I've absolutely loved teaching the young, the younger ones how to navigate the business world and how to be a successful business person or to be in a business or whatever they want to do.

Anthony Godfrey:
Here at West Jordan?

Makayla Brown:
Oh a little bit of everything. I teach Financial Literacy, Business Office Specialist, Sports Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Digital Marketing.

Anthony Godfrey:
I mean for those listening, business office specialists…. the acronym is B.O.S.S., right?

Makayla Brown:
That's correct yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
You're basically teaching people to be a boss of course with all the skills that go with it. What do you love most about teaching?

Makayla Brown:
The students. I know that feels like probably a very generic or cliché answer but they truly make my day. I'm impressed by them every single day with what they accomplish in the classroom, and outside of the classroom. They're truly inspiring and incredible.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do they know you play for the Falconz?

Makayla Brown:
They do, most of them do, yes.

Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you very much. We're very fortunate that the Falconz lured you out to Utah so that our students could benefit from getting to know you and being in your class, so thank you very much and can't wait to see out there on the field. Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, “Education is the most important thing you'll do today!” We'll see you out there.