Next Woman Up: Sarah Mallepalle, Strategic Football Analyst for the Dallas Cowboys

Women are rising up the ranks throughout professional football, earning positions of power in a space that for too long was ruled almost exclusively by men. We're seeing more and more women breaking barriers in the sport, but what are the stories beyond the headlines? Who are the women shaping and influencing the NFL today? Answering those questions is the aim of the Next Woman Up series. While the conversational Q&As are edited and condensed for clarity, this is a forum for impactful women to share experiences in their own words. Without further ado, we introduce:

Position: Strategic Football Analyst

How did you get your start in a career in football?

When I was a senior at Carnegie Mellon University, I used to tweet about football analytics, so I got connected to a lot of staffers in the NFL through Twitter connections. In May 2019, I received a message from a manager at the Baltimore Ravens, who were looking to add an analyst to the team. I interviewed and started full-time as a player personnel analyst at the beginning of training camp in 2019, and I was with the team for four seasons and four drafts. When John Park got hired by the Dallas Cowboys in June 2023 as the director of strategic football operations, I joined his team a week later.

Where did your love for football and/or analytics come from?

I have always loved football, and the story I always tell is this: My parents got married in 1985, and that's when my dad came to the United States from India. He talks a lot about how his first experiences feeling like an American was through watching the 1985 Chicago Bears. He especially loved Walter Payton, and he fell in love with the game immediately. Throughout my life, he's told me the way to becoming an