{{short description|American athlete|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox college football player |name= Tonya Butler |currentnumber=37 |currentposition=Kicker |birth_date={{Birth date and age|1980|10|20}} |birth_place=Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |heightft=5 |heightin=5 |weight=140 |highlights= *First female athlete to score a field goal in a college football game |pastschools=Middle Georgia (2000–2001)<br>West Alabama (2003–2004) |highschool=Riverdale High School }}
'''Tonya Lynn Butler''' (born October 20, 1980)<ref name="UWA bio">{{cite web |url=http://athletics.uwa.edu/Football_Bios/Butler_Tonya.htm |title=2004 Tiger Football: #37 Tonya Butler |publisher=West Alabama Tigers |year=2004 |access-date=February 27, 2023 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050118192827/http://athletics.uwa.edu/Football_Bios/Butler_Tonya.htm |archive-date=January 18, 2005}}</ref> is an American athlete who is the first woman ever to score a field goal in a college football game. She accomplished this feat on September 13, 2003, as a placekicker for the University of West Alabama Tigers, who were competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II.
==Playing career==
===High school=== Butler was raised in Fayetteville, Georgia, where she played the placekicker position for Riverdale High School.<ref name="HS1">{{cite news |title=Georgia kicker wants to blaze trail for female football players |first=Paul |last=Newberry |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The Seattle Times |date=November 1, 1998 |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19981101/2780913/georgia-kicker-wants-to-blaze-trail-for-female-football-players |access-date=November 26, 2011}}</ref> She won the starting kicking job when she was in tenth grade after serving as the junior varsity kicker for her freshman year.<ref name="HS3">{{cite news |title=Riverdale debuts with female kicker |first=Stan |last=Awtrey |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=September 6, 1996 |page=4D}}</ref> As a sophomore, Butler converted seven of eight field goal attempts and 28 of 31 extra points and became the first female to both make the all-area team for Clayton and Henry Counties and honorable mention for Class AAA all-state team as picked by the Georgia Sportswriters Association.<ref name="HS1"/><ref name="HS4">{{cite news |title=Getting her kicks in; Butler's earning fame for skill, not gender |first=Michael |last=Lee |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=August 21, 1997 |page=1E}}</ref>
Butler converted five of ten field goal attempts and 20 of 23 extra points as a junior; and seven of thirteen field goals and 64-of-65 extra points as a senior.<ref name="HS1"/><ref name="HS2">{{cite news |title=All-State list boasts first female |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The Augusta Chronicle |date=December 25, 1998 |url=http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1998/12/25/hig_248350.shtml |accessdate=November 26, 2011}}</ref> She completed her Riverdale career with 165 total points, for second place all-time in points scored at Riverdale.<ref name="HS2"/> For her performance on the field, Butler was also named to the 1998 Class AAA all-state football team as picked by the Georgia Sportswriters Association as the first female ever selected.<ref name="HS2"/> She also lettered in soccer in high school.<ref name="UWA bio"/>
===College=== During her senior year of high school, Butler received interest from Central Michigan in Division I-A and over two dozen schools in Division I-AA for her services as placekicker.<ref name="HS1"/> In January 1999 Butler announced she would play college football at Middle Georgia College for head coach Randy Pippin and signed a national letter of intent for a football scholarship to compete as placekicker on February 3, 1999.<ref name="College1">{{cite news |title=Butler will kick at Middle Georgia |first=Michael |last=Carvell |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=January 23, 1999 |page=1E}}</ref><ref name="College2">{{cite news |title=Middle Georgia signs Butler |first=Michael |last=Carvell |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=February 4, 1999 |page=6D}}</ref> The signing made Butler the first female to earn a football scholarship at a state school.<ref name="College2"/> During her two years at Middle Georgia, Butler made 36 of 42 extra points and one field goal for the Warriors.<ref name="College3">{{cite news |title=Female kicker unsigned but not discouraged |first=Chip |last=Towers |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=February 9, 2001 |page=2C}}</ref> After earning her associates degree at Middle Georgia, she did not receive any scholarship offers to compete as a placekicker elsewhere.<ref name="College3"/> Butler ended up going to Georgia Southern where she graduated in 2003.<ref name="College4">{{cite news |title=Pioneer still gets her football kicks |first=Karen |last=Rosen |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=October 17, 2003 |page=8D}}</ref>
After graduating from Georgia Southern, former Georgia College head coach Randy Pippin, who was now the head coach at West Alabama, offered Butler a scholarship to serve as placekicker for the Tigers.<ref name="College5">{{cite news |title=UWA's Tonya Butler aims for NCAA history |first=Andrew |last=Carroll |newspaper=The Tuscaloosa News |date=September 14, 2000 |page=C1 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IyAfAAAAIBAJ&pg=2049%2C2812065 |accessdate=November 26, 2011}}</ref> With two years of eligibility remaining, she enrolled as a graduate student and won the starting placekicker position for the Tigers 2003 season.<ref name="College5"/> In the first game of the season, Butler scored on a 27-yard field goal attempt against Stillman with 9:41 remaining in the first quarter.<ref name="College5"/> Although initially unconfirmed by the NCAA as gender was not differentiated in their all-time records, it was later confirmed that Butler was the first female player to score a field goal in an NCAA college football game.<ref name="College6">{{cite news |title=Feat accompli |newspaper=Sports Illustrated |date=September 13, 2003 |publisher=SI.com |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1000978/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203033939/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1000978/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 3, 2012 |accessdate=November 26, 2011}}</ref><ref name="College7">{{cite news |title=Girl power! |first=Jeff |last=McIntyre |newspaper=TimesDaily |date=November 4, 2004 |location=Florence, Alabama |url=http://ftstage.sx.atl.publicus.com/article/20041104/NEWS/411040340?Title=Girl-power- |accessdate=November 26, 2011}}</ref><ref name="College8">{{cite news |title=Former UWA kicker has own NCAA display |first=Tommy |last=Deas |newspaper=The Tuscaloosa News |date=January 26, 2006 |url=http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20060126/NEWS/601260351?tc=ar |accessdate=November 26, 2011}}</ref>
Butler served as placekicker for both the 2003 and 2004 seasons playing for West Alabama. For her career she made 13 of 19 field goal attempts with a long kick of 39 yards, and 48 of 53 in extra point attempts.<ref name="College8"/> Her 50 total points made during the 2003 season led the squad, and she was named special teams captain in both her years at West Alabama.<ref name="College8"/> Butler also was named Academic All-Gulf South Conference in 2004 and graduated in 2005 with a master's degree in psychology and counseling.<ref name="College8"/> In January 2006, her West Alabama helmet, jersey and cleats were displayed at the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis in recognition of her accomplishments as a student-athlete.<ref name="College8"/>
Butler held the record for the most points scored by a female college football player with 87 through the 2010 season when Brittany Ryan from Lebanon Valley College established the new mark.<ref name="Ryan">{{cite news |title=Kickers form bond and find sorority |first=George |last=Vecsey |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 8, 2010 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/09/sports/ncaafootball/09vecsey.html |accessdate=November 26, 2011}}</ref>
==See also== *List of female American football players *Sarah Fuller, the first woman to score in a Power Five conferences football game *Liz Heaston, first female to play and score in a college football game *Katie Hnida, the first woman to score in a FBS game *Becca Longo, first woman to receive an NCAA football scholarship to a Division II or better school *Haley Van Voorhis, the first female to play a non-kicking position in an NCAA game at any level
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Tonya}} Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:Players of American football from Fayetteville, Georgia Category:Female players of American football Category:American football placekickers Category:Middle Georgia Warriors football players Category:West Alabama Tigers football players