Antoinette ‘Toni’ Harris Becomes First Woman To Receive 4-Year College Football Scholarship

Antoinette ‘Toni’ Harris Becomes First Female To Receive 4-Year College Football Scholarship

East Los Angeles College’s first-ever female football player — and one of few women to play at the collegiate level nationwide — will take the national stage this Sunday when a Toyota commercial featuring her story debuts during the Super Bowl.

Toni Harris, a free safety, dreams of one day becoming the first woman in the NFL. The 60-second RAV4 spot plays on the obstacles and criticism she’s overcome to make it as far as she has, depicting her using a mascara wand to put on eye black as a child.

A voice over from sportscaster Jim Nantz points out that people have made a lot of assumptions about her. “But I’ve never been a big fan of assumptions,” she says. Harris, now a sophomore, began playing football when she was about 6 years old in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan.

 

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In an interview on CBS’ “This Morning,” she said those around her weren’t “too fond” of her playing the sport and voiced concern she could get hurt too easily playing with boys.

“What motivates me most to play is people telling me that I can’t,” she said. “I love to prove people wrong.”

And that’s what she’s been doing since. In high school, she was selected as Homecoming Queen while also playing a big role on the field. It’s 80 percent mental and only 20 percent physical, so you have to have a different mentality to play the game football,” she told CBS.

The defensive back has been integral to ELAC’s success since joining the team in 2017, Head Football Coach Bobby Godinez said in a news release from the school.