A Tweet sent by a proud parent has made a Chapel Hill High School student Internet famous.
The student, junior Brooklyn Harker, is the first female player on the school’s varsity football team, and her image went viral after she started for the Tigers against Carrboro High School on September 10.
Harker’s mother posted a photo of Harker to Twitter prior to the game, along with the following message: “Our daughter is starting free safety on D for tonight’s first home varsity game at her high school.”
Our daughter is starting free safety on D for tonight’s first home varsity game at her high school.
Taking all well wishes for a safe game and, of course, a big win! #GoGridironTigers🏈 pic.twitter.com/xDC1XBOaMv
— Jennifer Harker, Ph.D. (@jennifer_harker) September 10, 2021
The Tweet quickly caught the attention of everyone from NFL players to politicians and has since gotten over 2,500 Retweets and over 59,000 likes.
Carolina Panther safety Tre Boston, who also played football for the University of North Carolina, replied to the Tweet, asking Harker’s mom for the “stat line and some highlights please!!” while Congressman David Price congratulated Harker for “helping to lead the Tigers to a big win and showing there are no limits to what you can achieve!”
The Bleacher Report tweeted Harker’s image, as did a number of other media organizations: national newspaper USA Today featured Harker’s story in an article about female athletes “breaking barriers” on the gridiron, while Yahoo! featured a profile of Harker.
The picture of Harker was taken by Tina CoyneSmith, who regularly photographs Tiger football games. CoyneSmith expressed surprise that her photo went viral.
“It’s been fun to watch the picture go viral, and it’s a little surreal to see my photograph on the front page of USA Today or Yahoo! news,” she said, “but mostly I love that the image captures the amazing person that Brooklyn is, and I’m so excited that she is getting the recognition that she deserves for her tenacity and hard work.”
Harker said she first became interested in football after seeing her dad and brother watch and play the game. “It just stuck with me,” she said.
Harker, who in addition to playing safety is a kicker for the team, also played for Culbreth Middle School’s football team, as well as the high school she attended in Morgantown, West Virginia before moving back to Chapel Hill last year.
