As part of the Orlando Sentinel’s 150 birthday, we’re reprinting stories from our past. Today we revisit the story of Pat Palinkas, a snapper with the Orlando Panthers who became the first woman to play pro football. She passed away at age 81 in 2025. Here is Sentinel reporter Ric Russo’s story about Palinkas from Aug. 7, 1997.
It all started when Steve Palinkas asked his wife, Pat, to help him work on his kicking game. Steve – a place-kicker and punter who had just graduated from the University of Tampa – wanted to improve his skills to get a shot at the NFL.
“We would go to the closest football field we could find, and I would hold the ball while he worked on his field goals,” Pat said. “I did it all the time and never thought much of it. I was just being supportive of my husband.”
Then came Pat’s big break.
Steve got a tryout with the Orlando Panthers of the Atlantic Coast Football League, but unfortunately for Steve, his regular holder couldn’t make it.
“Pat was the only person I could get on such short notice who had held for me, besides that, she was a good holder,” Steve said from the couple’s home in Clearwater. “We packed up our stuff and went to Orlando to give it a shot.”
Frank Lennon/Toronto Star // Getty Images
Patricia Palinkas joined the Orlando Panthers alongside her kicker husband, beginning a short, but historic career as the first woman signed to a professional football team. As a holder for her husband, Palinkas only played a few games before deciding she’d rather do something other than hold the ball for someone else. Still, her short career impacted a generation of female athletes, who wouldn’t see another woman in professional football until Katie Hnida in 2010.
Not only did Steve win the job, the Panthers wanted Pat to sign. They would be the first husband and wife team to play pro football, and Pat would be the first woman to play the sport.
“At first I thought they were kidding,” Pat said.
After weeks of preparation, she made her debut on Aug. 15, 1970, in a game against the Bridgeport Jets. Just before the half, with the Panthers leading, 11-0, Steve and Pat trotted onto the field for an extra-point attempt in front of a crowd of about 12,000 in what was then called the Tangerine Bowl.
“I was so nervous that one of the team doctors gave me a tranquilizer before the game to calm my nerves,” Pat said. “I took half of it. It relaxed me and made me feel really limber.”
Perhaps too limber.
Pat bobbled the snap and a 235-pound linebacker from Bridgeport fell on the ball.
“The guy who recovered the fumble was a guy by the name of Wally Florence, and he wasn’t too happy about Pat being on the field,” Steve said. “In the week leading up to the game, he said he was going to break her neck if he got the chance.”
Well, Pat survived Florence, and she and Steve went on to convert every kick they attempted for the rest of the season. The Palinkas’ football experiences brought them instant fame. Legendary TV anchor Walter Cronkite did a piece on them on the CBS Evening News, and Pat made appearances on What’s My Line, To Tell the Truth, The Merv Griffin Show and the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
Pat even had a radio show – “Pat Palinkas Predicts” – in Tampa, and The New York Times ran an article comparing her physical abilities with those of former New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath. But the Palinkas’ 15 minutes of fame came to an end when Steve injured a muscle in his kicking leg about midway through the ’70 season.
“That was a fun time in my life,” Pat said. “I’m very glad I got the opportunity to do it. It was a challenge, and if I ever had the chance to do it all again, I would.”
These days, Pat is more concerned with PTAs than PATs. As a first-grade school teacher at Dunedin Elementary School and a mother of three, she spends most her time working with kids.
Her oldest daughter, Stephanie, 23, just graduated from the University of Florida. Suzannah, 20, will be a junior at UF this year, and son Stephen, 16, is still in high school. Occasionally, friends of her children will ask about her football playing days.
Pat Palinkas wears her old Orlando Panthers football jersey and poses with husband Steve in this 1997 photo at their home. (Orlando Sentinel file)
“Some of their friends look at me and say, ‘No way you played professional football with men,’ ” Pat said. “Then I show them one of the articles I have on my refrigerator, and I let them see for themselves. I still get asked about it quite a bit. I guess I’m an answer to a Trivial Pursuit question.”
Pat still has her old Panthers jersey (she wore No. 3), and if she needs a reminder about those days, she can go to Canton, Ohio, home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Her exploits with the Panthers are chronicled there in the football archives. She is listed in Canton as the only woman to play pro football with men.
While football was fun, she is happy teaching first graders the basics.
“Teaching is a lot more rewarding,” Pat said. “I wouldn’t trade my 15 minutes of fame for anything, but teaching young children is wonderful.”
For more stories and features as part of the Orlando Sentinel’s 150th birthday, go to OrlandoSentinel.com/150.