The Lingerie Football League kicks off today and players from teams like the Dallas Desire and the San Diego Seduction insist it's as much about the football as the female flesh, despite gripes from feminists, Reuters reports. The women acknowledge that displays of athletic prowess are unlikely to be the number one focus of the audience, but they say they've trained hard and are ready to surprise skeptics who don't take them seriously.
"I think it is eye candy for one but it is also football and it is real. There were tryouts for the team and if you couldn't play you didn't make the cut," said Kaley Tuning, wide-receiver with the Miami Caliente. "I've seen people say it is a joke and it is degrading, and it makes me mad. We are real athletes." (More Lingerie Football League stories.)