It doesn't seem like it was all that long ago, but believe it or not, it's been nearly six months since the Buffalo Bills named Kathryn Smith the team's special teams quality control coach.
An entry-level position for Smith, Rex Ryan brought her on and made her the first female full-time assistant coach in National Football League history. Whether she likes it or not, she's a trailblazer for the sport. Since that time, Smith has kept a fairly low profile -- not speaking with the media to instead focus on her job.
That is, until Wednesday.
Smith met with the media for the first time since her appointment to Ryan's coaching staff, and while not outright downplaying the enormity of her being brought on by the Bills, she did try to minimize it an effort to just go about her job as she normally does.
"It was an honor. It was really incredible," Smith said. "It was really amazing that it made that much of a splash. A bit overwhelming too just because, again, I was just trying to do my job and wasn’t expecting all of that but it’s been good. For the most part, it’s been positive so that’s been nice."
Now that she's six months into the gig, how has she been received by the players on the team? Smith made it known that she doesn't feel like there's been any special treatment from any of the men that make up the roster.
"They’re just being themselves," she remarked. "I haven’t sensed that, so I haven’t had that situation arise."
Going forward for Smith, it's really all about the hustle. She's in a lower level coaching position and will be depended on to do a lot of the background work that will help special teams coordinator Danny Crossman, and in turn, help Rex Ryan.
Now that the initial attention has subsided, she can go about her business just like everyone else in the building.
"Right now, my goal is to get to training camp, get to the season, and just try to help the team as much as I can and take it one game at a time, one week at a time, and take it from there."
