Spotlight on: Rachel Huhn
By Jasmine Rogers
This profile was written in 2012.
Today the spotlight is on Rachel Huhn, an Eagle, Michigan, native and proud graduate of Michigan State University. After she finished her degree in hospitality business, this offensive lineman moved to DC to be a hotel manager. Huhn worked in the hospitality industry for a while before she discovered a new passion and found her way into law school at the University of the District of Columbia. This second-year law student plans on pursing a career as a criminal prosecutor and hopes to one day become a judge.
Entering her fifth year with the Divas, Huhn still has the same passion and excitement for the game that she had her rookie season. In her time on the team, she has always been on the offensive line, either at center or guard. She is proud to follow in her father’s footsteps, who played on the offensive line during his college career.
Rachel Huhn loves playing football and considers it an honor to pave the way in this sport for women.
Spotlight on: Rachel Huhn
What is your biggest accomplishment in sports?
My biggest accomplishment was receiving the team’s Most Improved Player Award, because when I began playing football my first season, I was completely afraid to hit and really had no idea what was going on. I came back the next year and everything clicked, and I became a starter on the offensive line.
What was your biggest adjustment to football?
I had two big adjustments to football. The first was hitting: I have worked with a lot of different domestic violence organizations, so to be told it’s okay to hit goes against every grain in my body. But what I love about football is that in this environment, it’s encouraged and really helps to relieve stress. The second adjustment I had to make was dealing with the equipment. I’m used to shorts and a t-shirt working out, not feeling so restricted in a helmet and shoulder pads, just for starters.
What is your favorite football memory/moment?
I love every second on the field! But I also get extreme pleasure out of knowing that I have protected someone – the quarterback or our running backs. “So you ask if I am scared, I will proudly say no, because I am my sister’s keeper as she is unto me.”
What is your biggest challenge, and what do you do to manage this challenge?
My biggest challenge has become juggling football with the rest of my life. I’m in law school currently, working part-time, and very involved with activities at school, even running various organizations. On days we have practice, I literally pack all my school and work stuff and my football equipment in the morning and run from one place to another, changing in the car if I have to.
What was the best advice you were ever given?
To get through life, you have to take it day to day, and if that doesn’t work, take it moment by moment. I think it really is how I’ve managed to do so much at once.
What’s your favorite quote?
“Pipes burst under pressure, but diamonds are made under pressure!”
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
My mom…she is such a strong woman who can handle anything that comes her way. I hope that I can be half of the woman and mother she is some day!
Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
I grew up on a farm in the middle of Michigan with more cattle and acres than people in the town. That is where I learned all about hard work.
About Rachel Huhn
Name: Rachel Huhn
Age: 29
Hometown: Eagle, MI
Educational background: BA in Hospitality Business from Michigan State University, second-year law student at UDC’s David A. Clarke School of Law
Years playing football: 5
Sports participated in: Thrower (discus and shotput) in track and field
What got you started playing football: The fact that women weren’t allowed to play when I grew up and my sheer love of the game.
