MOBILE, Alabama -- The phrase “Monday Night Football” has a new meaning for Julie Kuhn and her teammates.

Kuhn, also known as “Dirty Red” on the field, is a linebacker and tight end for the Dauphin Island Dreamz, a member of the Leather and Lace Football League, a women’s league taking its first snaps this spring and summer.

While the 25 year-old’s bright red hair earned her the nickname, her play on the field is more in line with the likes of “Mean Joe Green.”

“I’m the team captain and have leadership skills; the other players kind of look up to me,” Kuhn said. “I’m definitely one of the more aggressive players on our team. One of my most memorable games was grabbing this girl and throwing her to the ground. Everyone was cheering but I didn’t really know what to do. I just threw my hands up in the air and my adrenaline took over after that.”

The Dauphin Island Dreamz is one of three local teams that are members of the Leather and Lace league along with the Mobile Bay Vixens and Grand Bay Ravens. The league’s website also lists a fourth team, the Kansas City Tease, but only the three Mobile-area teams are active on this season’s schedule.

In the season opener on May 16, the Vixens defeated the Ravens 55-48. The regular season continues through Aug. 1, with games taking place at 7:30 p.m. every Monday at Cottage Hill Park.

Playoffs will be held Aug. 8 and 15, followed by the “Leather and Lace Super Bowl” on Aug. 25.

Roland Turner, president and co-owner of Global Sports Group, said the area started with one team but that quickly changed.

“Our original game plan was to start competition in 2012 and have teams from Kansas City to Dallas. But the interest in our area was so positive and overwhelming that we formed the three teams and started playing each other,” Turner said. “This is basically our preliminary season. We’ll play a multi-team season next year. The three teams here will obviously all play each other this year and they will all travel to Kansas City to face The Tease.”

Similar impulses seem to have prompted a number of local and regional women’s football leagues around the country in recent years. The biggest appears to be the Lingerie Football League (www.lflus.com), which has a dozen in teams in major cities such as Orlando, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Chicago and Toronto and a broadcast deal with the MTV2 cable channel. The LFL’s third season starts in August.

Though the local game often is referred to as “lingerie football,” Vixens head coach Bobby Hamilton said these teams are playing in anything but lingerie.

“These ladies have on shoulder pads, knee pads, a helmet, cleats; everything a regular football player would wear. The only exception would be the boy shorts. They’re not in anything that volleyball players aren’t playing in,” Hamilton said. “These girls aren’t out here playing in panties and trying to be cute or girlie. The intensity of their contact is incredible.

“They are brutal; bodies slamming and crushing tackles,” he continued. “I have five of my 10 players hurt with everything from broken fingers to an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) tear. We’re still working on form tackling but the collisions are incredible.”

Kuhn, a former four-sport athlete in high school (softball, volleyball, swimming and basketball), is currently a junior at the University of South Alabama where she is studying to be a social worker.

A native of Fort Wayne, Ind., she said one day she tried out for the team and in less than 24 hours she was competing in her first football game.

Information



What:

The Leather and Lace Football League, featuring the Mobile Bay Vixens, Grand Bay Ravens and the Dauphin Island Dreamz

When:

7:30 p.m. every Monday through Aug. 1 Where: Medal of Honor Park football facility

Ticket prices:

$10 adults, $5 children

For more information

go to

or call 251-442-4663

“I heard about the tryouts from one of my friends and we joked about trying out. I decided to give the tryouts a shot and the next day I got my gear and was playing in a game that night during half-time of the Mobile Bay Tarpons indoor football team’s game,” Kuhn said. “My friends have been to all my games and my family is supportive. My mom’s isn’t so keen on what we’re wearing but she’s still supportive.”

Former Shaw High School graduate and football standout Dennis Cejas is the head coach of the Grand Bay Ravens. He said his team has definitely changed his opinion of women playing football and even the way he looks at his fiancée.

“What I really love about coaching this team is their willingness to learn and their attitudes. They want to get out there and get physical. I thought they’d be timid but they want to be as physical as they can,” he said. “My fiancée, Kailey Burdeen, is the quarterback for our team and she is an incredible athlete. She has great hands, she’s fast and powerful, I was really impressed with her ability on the field. She’s small but she packs a punch.”

Kuhn agrees with Hamilton on the misconceptions of the game by naysayers.

“People think we’re a bunch of pretty little girls acting prissy, trying to be cute and sexy in our uniforms when in fact we’re playing real football. We’re playing with big hearts, we’re athletic and we give it our all,” Kuhn said. “We’re out there for an athletic event. We’re serious about what we’re doing and people realize that once they come to a game.”