BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo loves its sports, especially football — but it’s not only the Buffalo Bills that left their mark on the area.

Another football team, the Buffalo All-Stars, changed the game.

“It was an opportunity to do something that I would love,” said Sherrill Cooper.

The thrill of the gridiron isn’t unfamiliar for her.

“They came from all walks of life,” she said.

Cooper was one of around 25 women who formed the Buffalo All-Stars, New York’s first professional women’s tackle football team, one of four founded by Sid Friedman. A teammate of hers, Dee Dee DeBone, helped coordinate the team.

Cooper was a halfback.

“He founded Buffalo in 1970, which made it a four-team league,” explained Greg Tranter, a sports historian.

The Women’s Professional Football League came at the perfect time.

“Football was becoming more and more popular and by 1972, football became the number one most popular sport in the United States, surpassing baseball, of course, back in 1970,” Tranter said.

For Cooper, it was all about a love of the game.

“I don't think that I ever thought of it as, 'Wow. This is amazing that women are going to be able to play football,'" she recalled. "It was more, 'Wow, just the idea to be able to do it.'”

Coming from a sports family, including a dad who played for the Buffalo Bisons hockey team, she hid this from them for a time, even after breaking her leg during practice.

“I'm in a full cast and I'm on crutches," she said. "My brother was sitting at the table, looking at the Courier Express on the sports page, and saying, 'Dad, there's an article [...] And this looks like- Wow, this looks like Sherrill,'" Cooper recalled.

It was an alias given to the newspaper that would hide her identity for now.

"I said, 'Wow. It does look like me. What's her name? Leslie Lynn,'" Cooper said. "So my family didn't know for weeks and weeks that I was playing.”

While that limited her time playing, it didn’t limit her experience.

“What that league was and what it meant for women at that time has more meaning today than it really did years ago,” she said.

They lost their first game 40-0, but when it came time to play on home turf at All-High Stadium on December 5, 1970, they emerged victorious.

“It's bringing tears to my eyes,” said Cooper.

That game is now immortalized on a plaque at the stadium.

“If that affects a couple of young girls to inspire them to play sports or to play football, that would be awesome,” said Tranter.

While their team only lasted four years, it paved the way for the current Women’s Football Alliance.

“I believe it began in 2009, and there's 59 teams at three levels that play,” Tranter said.

“It's drizzling, it's cloudy. However, I have to say if we were playing football, we'd still be out in the field during this weather,” Cooper said, walking the field at All-High.

She looks forward to women’s football continuing to grow, including a new potential WFA team recruiting women in Western New York - the Buffalo Yeti’s.

“Wow. Oh my God. I'm probably too old to try out, shucks,” laughed Cooper.

For anyone considering getting involved in any sport they love, she has this advice.

“You have to listen to what you want and don't let anybody else make that decision for you," Cooper said. "If you want to try out for something or be a part of something, go for it!"

Back in 1970, there were only about 300,000 girls in the U.S taking part in any high school sport. They were mostly sports like swimming or volleyball.

In the 2022-2023 school year, that number was over 3.3 million, across all types of sports, and that growth continues in professional sports as well.