Payton Mayberry Celebrates Her Season As Memorial’s First Female Football Player

By Mike Moguin
GTR Sports Writer

Football has always been known to be a game for men and boys. But every now and then, women and girls play as well. Junior Payton Mayberry proved it when she played for Memorial this year. 

While it wasn’t a memorable season for the Chargers, it was in the sense that Mayberry became the first female to compete in football at any level at the school. She played both varsity and junior varsity, having  started the latter early in the season but accidentally jammed her finger, she said.

“I still played in games but did not start,” Mayberry said.

The road to her playing began when she was a freshman at Broken Arrow.

“I was on the football bus from the freshman academy at BA to the high school,” Mayberry said.  “I was helping them learn their plays and the guys on the team were saying ‘girls can’t play.’” 
Mayberry saw a challenge in those words. 

“So, with me being hard-headed, I was like, ‘Yes we can,’ and now I’m playing at Memorial.”
Mayberry faced some challenges with playing the gridiron as a girl, but it didn’t take long for her to be accepted by the guys. 

“When you think you don’t have the respect, but then you find out your team respects you, that’s all you need to know,” she said. “Then you have to show the other team how you play. I get on the field, I do my job and I do it to the best of my abilities.”

Her teammates have also been pushing her to go above and beyond.

“They have encouraged me to do a lot of stuff,” Mayberry said. “At the beginning of the season, we were pushing the bag from the 10-yard line to the 50-yard line. By the third or fourth time, I was starting to lose my momentum, barely making it, and this guy, Josh McDill, one of the senior leaders, came up and started encouraging me. And ever since then, if I think I’m not going to do it, I’ll think about it (McDill’s words).”

Mayberry has also received encouragement from her workout partner in the weight room. 

On offense, Mayberry plays right guard. On defense, she is a nose tackle.

She has her favorite play. 
“We have this play called ‘Billy Bob,’ where I move to left guard. I’m usually at right guard,” Mayberry said. “The center shifts into a tackle, the left guard goes to center and our tackle will run out and catch the ball.”

Memorial only won one game in the 2021 season and that was against Nathan Hale in the regular season finale. Mayberry considers that her most memorable game of the year.

“Because one of the guys on the other team said, ‘Oh you have a girl on the team. You’re not going to be able to push me.’ They were just joking around. So I get on the field and I end up taking the guy and pushing him so far that way, even though the play was supposed to go the opposite direction, I made the huge hole and they went straight for mine.”

That play was exciting for Mayberry.  The Chargers went on to beat the Rangers 34-0 in that game.

Mayberry is hoping to set a precedent for her other girls who want to join the boys to play football. She knows a few at Memorial who are wanting to do so next year. 

“My friend, Kailah Love, has said she has always wanted to do it since her freshman year. We’re both in the same grade and when she saw that I could do it, she wanted to do it,” Mayberry said. “Then there is this freshman who was one of our trainers this year. She was always afraid to get hurt, but now that she has seen that I made it through the season with just minor injuries and a couple of bruises. She believes she can do it too. 

When asked what advice she would give to any girl who wants to play on the gridiron,  she replied, “There are going to be people who say stuff, but don’t listen to that. Instead, use it to feel your passion to play and never take no for an answer. Show them you can, even if it means working out at home, just do it to the best of your abilities. And don’t play because someone said you could, play it for yourself, not anyone else.”