Teresa Conn just had to try football. She was getting too beaten up playing rugby.

She was a rugby player for 17 years after reaching the national finals in judo as a student at Slippery Rock University.

"When the Pittsburgh Passion came into existence and I saw the chance to wear a helmet and shoulder pads, I couldn't resist,"Conn said.

The Passion are in their fourth year in the 36-team National Women's Football Association. Conn, 42, is one of 14 original Passion players still with the team.

At 5-foot-3, 97 pounds, she plays free safety and leads the team with four interceptions this season. She led the league with nine interceptions last year.

She also became owner of the Passion franchise last season, giving up her previous position as a teacher and girls volleyball coach at General McLane High School in Edinboro.

"I was teaching school, then making a 3Z\x hour drive to Belle Vernon for practice every day,"Conn said. "That seven-hour round-trip got to be a little much.

"When the team came up for sale, they thought of me right away and I went for it. I consider it a career change."

In five years of coaching volleyball at General McLane, Conn's teams won the Erie County championship four times. Her final varsity team went 18-0 while the junior varsity squad finished 22-0.

"It was hard to give that up,"Conn said. "I had a good thing going up there."

She has no regrets, however, even with a list of football injuries that include two broken ankles, a broken shoulder and three surgeries in the last four years.

"I've had eight broken bones total since I started playing football,"Conn said. "I was never injured once in 17 years of playing rugby.

"But I love football. It's a great game. I can see why America is so obsessed with it."

Conn doesn't keep coming back from injuries because she's obsessed with it. She comes back because so many of her teammates have.

"That's the story of our team,"she said. "We have women who are all about overcoming obstacles and bad breaks in life.

"We get back up and face the challenge. Football doesn't work if everyone on the team doesn't function as a unit. This team is very into that."

Conn is the smallest player on the 55-member Passion roster. Only two players on the squad are older than her.

She hopes to play two or three more years, but will remain with the organization in some type of administrative role once her playing days have ended.

"I've tried virtually every position on the team,"Conn said. "I know all about the game from a player's viewpoint and I'm learning more as the owner.

"I think this team will be here forever. It grows in popularity every spring, both in Pittsburgh and throughout the league. The league has had to turn prospective franchises down because it's growing so fast.

"Everywhere we go now, someone recognizes you. This league and this team will be around long after I'm gone," she added.

Conn graduated from SRUwith a degree in health and physical education and sports management. She was also a first-team All-American in softball.

She's put all phases of her education into use since.

The Passion are 5-3 this season and can reach the NWFAplayoffs for the first time if they defeat Cincinnati and Columbus loses its final game by 15 points or more.

"Making the playoffs would be a big step for us,"Conn said. "We've been right there. We just haven't gotten over the hump."

The team now plays its home games at Cupples Stadium on Pittsburgh's South Side after having previous homes at Belle Vernon, Pine-Richland and Ambridge high schools.

"The Pittsburgh Passion are finally playing their home games in Pittsburgh,"Conn said. "Cupples Stadium is where we belong and we're gonna be there for a long, long time."

This is one in a series of articles on Slippery Rock University graduates who have moved on to athletic careers elsewhere.