A Perfectly Placed Pass
Born and raised in Montreal, Sam Rapoport’s journey into football started with a long shot—and a perfectly thrown one.
A former quarterback throughout her youth, Sam wanted a job in the NFL badly enough to mail an actual football from Montreal to New York with her resume attached. Written on the football was the line: “What other quarterback could accurately deliver a ball 386 miles?” It worked.
That unforgettable move landed her an NFL internship in 2003, launching what would become a 23-year career in football.
Award-Winning Executive, Host, and Advocate
Since then, Sam’s groundbreaking work has earned widespread recognition. She is a 2-time recipient of the NFL Commissioner’s Award, 10-time award-winning sports executive, and one of the most influential voices in professional football today. As a pioneering force behind the NFL’s gender equity movement, she has redefined what’s possible in a legacy sport—transforming the league’s culture and opening doors for women across the globe.
She has been honored by People Magazine as one of the “25 Women Changing the World,” named to Fortune’s 40 Under 40, and listed among Sports Illustrated’s Most Powerful Women in Sports. A recipient of the Sports Business Journal Game Changer Award, Sam’s impact has been spotlighted by The TODAY Show, Good Morning America, CNN Money, and The Pat McAfee Show.
Awards and Honors
- 2009 & 2019 – NFL Commissioner’s Award Winner
- 2017 – People Magazine’s 25 Women Changing the World
- 2018 – Outsports’ Hero of the Year
- 2019 – Fortune Magazine’s 40-Under-40
- 2020 – Sports Illustrated’s Most Powerful, Most Influential and Most Outstanding Women in Sports and The Athletic’s 40-Under 40
- 2022 – LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Sports
- 2023 – Sports Business Journal Game Changer Award
- 2024 – Adweek’s Champion of Change
- 2025 – Yahoo! Sports 25 Game Changers to Watch in the NFL
A Mission Bigger Than the Game
From the beginning, Sam’s work has been driven by a clear purpose: enfranchise the disenfranchised into football.
Early in her NFL career, that mission meant building programs to get girls involved in flag football. Over time, it grew into something even bigger. During the last decade, Sam became the architect behind some of the NFL’s most important initiatives for women pursuing careers in coaching, scouting, and officiating.
Her impact has been profound. At a time when the league once had virtually no women in those roles, Sam helped create a pipeline that has now elevated more than 37 women into NFL coaching positions. Under her leadership, the NFL has become the men’s professional sports league with the most women coaching.
Transforming the NFL—and Showing Others How
That said, Sam’s keynotes are not just about football or diversity. They are about change.
Her work inside the NFL provides a powerful, real-world case study for how organizations can evolve quickly, authentically, and effectively. She breaks down the practical formula behind large-scale transformation—whether the goal is advancing inclusion, increasing employee buy-in, driving AI adoption, implementing new systems, or helping teams embrace change in their professional and personal lives.
Her point is simple and powerful: if the NFL can do this, there’s no excuse.
Her keynote speeches—equal parts fire and framework—reveal how to turn intention into action and accelerate any kind of change. Bold, dynamic, and deeply personal, Sam delivers tangible strategies for disrupting systems, shifting culture, and building teams that win.
A former elite tackle and flag football quarterback, Sam is also a proud LGBTQ+ trailblazer, living just outside New York City with her wife and two children.