At 23, Slidell native Madison Plummer has muscled her way into NFL history, becoming the first Black woman to work full-time on a team’s equipment staff with the Los Angeles Rams. Her climb from Northshore High team manager to a permanent job on an NFL sideline has turned into a point of hometown pride across St. Tammany Parish.
Plummer started stacking experience early. She put in the hours at Mississippi State on the Bulldogs’ equipment staff, then parlayed internships, including time with the Chicago Bears and repeat summer stints with the Rams, into a one-year fellowship. That fellowship turned into a full-time promotion last spring, as detailed by Andscape.
Inside the job
Her role is not glamorous, but it is nonstop. Plummer’s day-to-day includes planning travel, packing for road trips, prepping jerseys and handling the tiny but critical details that keep a franchise from falling apart on game day. It is the kind of work that rarely shows up on highlight reels, yet she says it “never, ever feels like a job.” ABC7 reported on her promotion and on how uncommon it still is for women, especially Black women, to land full-time equipment positions in the league.
Local roots and family ties
Plummer’s football story started at home. Her interest in the game took shape as a high school team manager in Slidell, a journey local media has tracked closely, including coverage from NOLA.
Football also runs in the family. Her father, Bruce Plummer, played in the NFL and now coaches at Northshore, as noted by WXXV News 25, a pro career also recorded on Wikipedia.
What it means for women in the NFL
Plummer’s hire slots into a slowly growing list of women who are changing what NFL jobs look like off the field. Sarah Thomas became the league’s first full-time game official and the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl in 2021, according to Sporting News. Kathryn Smith broke ground in 2016 as the first woman promoted to a full-time NFL coaching position, as reported by Fox13. In 2022, Sandra Douglass Morgan became the first Black woman to serve as an NFL team president, per NFL.com.
For young women on the Northshore, seeing Plummer on a pro sideline is more than a feel-good story, it is a visible career roadmap. Coaches and former classmates say they hope her path makes it easier for the next wave of girls who love football to see themselves working in it, not just watching from the stands.
