Ana Vazquez’s first sporting love wasn’t archery, it was the NFL

You may know Ana Paula Vazquez as the Mexican Olympian and current world number 18 – or as a silver medallist with the recurve women’s team at the 2021 Hyundai World Archery Championships… or simply as one of the archery’s up and coming global superstars.

But her first sporting love – and career – wasn’t archery. It was something a little different: American football.

The sports’ end of season spectacular – the Super Bowl – takes place tonight at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. (The very same place that LA 2028 is slated to host the archery competitions at the next-but-one Olympics.) A perfect opportunity to talk to a now-famous archer about her original sport.

“My dad and my family are fans of the NFL,” explains the 21-year-old. “I remember that I wanted to start playing after watching the 2006 Super Bowl (XL) in which the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks.”

A couple of years later at the age of eight, Vazquez was fully equipped with pads and the only girl in a local all-boys team – ready to unleash her power on the field.

“I remember tackling a kid who was carrying the ball and threw him very hard to the ground – my [team] celebrated it a lot and, honestly, I felt very empowered,” says a smiling Vazquez, remembering her earliest memories of the sport.

“I played for a team called Corsarios [‘Raiders’ in Spanish] in a set of teams called afais. I played defensive and offensive tackle, full back and nose [tackle], I was never benched in games because I played both offence and defence. I only won small awards for being the best girl who played in afais since there were only three girls in all of the 15 teams in my city, Ramos Arizpe.”

For those who don’t know the roles of American football players, the tackles are typically the meanest, largest and most imposing individuals on a squad, tasked with ‘manning the trenches’ in a game.

By the time Ana was 12 years old, she came to a crossroads in her sporting life.

“A boy pushed me badly once and I hurt my hand,” she explains. “My mum said the boys were now stronger than me so she didn’t want me to keep playing anymore as they would keep hurting me. I then started playing flag football [tochito] but I was very little and the coach said I needed to be 15 before I could play an official game."

“At that time, as a woman, I knew I couldn’t play in the NFL. There was the LFL [Legends of Football League], but it was seen as more of a morbid curiosity than something for those with a passion for the sport.”

It was at this point that Ana’s path forked. Instead of pads and pigskins, it would be bows and arrows. 

“My mum then asked me, or rather told me, that I was going to go to archery training with my friend. I didn’t like it at first at all and I felt sad when I dropped out of flag football because I really enjoyed playing it,” she says.

“To me, archery seemed very simple: stand on a line and pull a string. I thought it was too easy and I wanted to run, jump and have a lot of movement to release energy. I wanted to play tennis instead but it was expensive and we didn’t have the money.”

Reluctance turned into enjoyment, the enjoyment turned into a passion – and the rest is history. Ana Vazquez has quickly become a key member of Mexico’s impressive international squad, helping the recurve women’s team earn a dramatic last-second quota to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – and adding that world silver medal at the end of 2021.

But while Vazquez’s sporting career is now firmly rooted in archery, her love for the NFL continues. And it’s a love she still shares with her family.

“I’m a Steelers fan because my dad is a fan and I have watched them win two Super Bowls,” says Vazquez. “I also became a fan of Troy Polamalu; I adored that player and the team. When he retired it hurt me, but I still have a lot of passion for that team because I grew up watching them play.”

“Aside from Polamalu, I was also a fan of for New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and am currently a fan of the Steelers’ TJ Watt, but honestly, there are many other players who I really like the way they play.”

Ana hasn’t seen a game in person yet but, with the NFL season running mostly through the winter months and outside of the Hyundai Archery World Cup calendar, football Sundays remains a family affair.

“We watch almost every game of the season and like to have carne asada [barbecue] with family and friends to watch the games. My family has a quiniela [sweepstake] and I like to give my opinion about the game, but I don’t get into their quiniela because I feel that I still lack a little more knowledge.”

SoFi stadium could well host the opening ceremony – and archery competitions – of Ana’s third Olympics, should she make Paris and continue to build on the impressive potential she’s displayed over the last 12 months. But, tonight, thoughts like that are far away.

Tonight, it’s the Super Bowl – in which the Los Angeles Rams take on the Cincinnati Bengals.

“We always watch and have a huge barbecue – we start celebrating it early,” explains Vazquez. “If the Steelers are not in it, we pick a team and we take that team as if they were our own – but just for the Super Bowl only and, of course, we love to watch the half-time show.

“I would like the Bengals to win because I really like their quarterback Joe Burrow and how he plays, plus he is also in the same division as the Steelers and I would like someone from our division to win,” she says, postulating the pros and cons like a true sports fan. “I think the Rams will win but I would like the Bengals to win.”

And though Vazquez’s NFL career never got off the ground. Values she learned playing flag football have carried forward into her career with a bow.

“Teamwork, enduring physical-heavy training and knowing that no matter how hard the fall or blow is, you can always get up stronger,” she explains. “That courage that you feel when that happens, you can always use it in your favour.”

Photos courtesy Ana Vazquez/Instagram.