Women are making history in football whether you like it or not - and tackling the gender barrier isn't just taking place on the field. While women are strapping on helmets and sporting black and white stripes, there's business to be done off the field - and 27-year-old Megan Rogers is one of the few ladies in the nation holding down a "man's job" in Division I football.

As of January 2007, Rogers is the director of football administration for the Colorado Buffaloes, making her the second woman to hold this position at CU. She also still holds the role as administrative assistant for Head Coach Dan Hawkins.

While Rogers shares the operations work load with Robert Tucker, director of football operations, she is primarily responsible for all aspects of team travel for Hawkins, the coordinators and players - in addition to serving as the liaison with players' parents and support groups, helping coordinate two of CU's major football camps and single-day camps, working on numerous committees and tackling new tasks daily.

Being responsible for team travel doesn't mean simply booking a flight and hotel rooms for the team and calling it good. Rogers is expected to plan almost everything down to the minute - a year in advance.

"If we're even five minutes late, it's really bad," she says.

But according to Rogers, the only times they've been late have been due to uncontrollable circumstances like flight delays and severe weather.

"There have been no disasters yet - knock on wood," says Rogers. "But I make sure to look into everything."

She scouts out the hotels in person - talking over every little detail with the staff. And by details she means making sure the catering department knows who wants their vegetables cooked with butter. Not only that, she schedules the buses and makes sure the drivers know exactly where they need to go.

Then, there's the plane. Rogers plans a detailed seating chart for each flight involving approximately 115 people - 70 of those being the chosen players for that particular game.

"Last year, I had to group the offense with offense, defense with defense and so on," says Rogers. "But this year, Hawkins wants everyone mixed up to help with team-building."

Although that may sound easier, Rogers still has to deal with weight distribution.

"You can't put a 300-pound lineman in the middle seat," she says. "And when someone suddenly can't go, everything has to be rearranged by weight. You have to be very flexible and willing to work with the change."

So how did Rogers land this job? According to her, it's not only about who you know in the industry, but who you've proved yourself to. While attending CU, Rogers served as the equipment manager for the Buffs for five years. She was responsible for their uniforms, coordinating and running practice drills, setting up for games and assisting players with the "snapper," a piece of equipment that simulates a snap by ejecting the ball.

"That piece of equipment was attached to my hip while I was working for equipment. Sometimes I miss the snapper," laughs Rogers.

Perhaps she doesn't miss being run over by the players and hit with balls. But according to her, "It goes with the territory of the job. You have to expect it."

When graduation crept up on Rogers, she had no idea what she was going to do with herself.

"I felt like I should pursue my psychology degree, but football has always been a large part of my life," says Rogers. "I wanted to get back into it and see if there was a niche for me."

Rogers' oldest brother Mark told her there were women working within his high school football program at the time and that she should really look into it. He later went on to play football for Princeton. Her other brother, Chris, who is now a licensed golf professional and general manager at a golf course in Oregon, told her to do what she loves and the money would follow. For Rogers, football was where it was at.

Then, former CU offensive coordinator Shawn Watson sealed the deal.

"He was the first person to give me confidence toward this path," says Rogers. "We would talk about my future and how I didn't want a job. I wanted a career. He told me he could totally see me doing football operations work and that if he was in the position to make the decision, he'd let me do it for him."

In response to his advice, Rogers spoke with Hawkins.

"I told him this is what I eventually wanted to pursue and he fully supported it," says Rogers, who is now going into her fourth year of working in the football office.

Since she's landed the position as director of administration, Rogers claims to have received nothing but respect in and out of the office, and, of course, from the players.

Her parents, who both attended CU, have always been supportive of her. Rogers' father Frank earned three letters at CU while playing split end and place-kicker from 1963-65. And although her parents live in Centennial, where she grew up, they make it to almost every home game possible.

"My mom has always been extremely encouraging - especially because of my courage to pursue something that didn't really involve following in someone's footsteps," says Rogers.

In addition to being a family gal, she's quite modest. Unless I told her about my obsession with the Indianapolis Colts, she probably wouldn't have mentioned that she was the first woman to help run the annual Mannings' Passing Camp in Louisiana this past July.

"It was one of the best experiences of my life," says Rogers. "1,200 kids participated and there were 135 guest coaches consisting of high school and college players and coaches as well as NFL players and coaches from across the nation."

According to her, Cooper Manning, the oldest brother, is the comedian. Peyton is the down to Earth one and Eli is the shy one. (She didn't have to tell me that Eli isn't married. I'm already well aware of that one.)

So does Rogers ever get sick of football? The answer is no. When all is said and done at work for the week, her ideal Saturday consists of watching football all day with her cat - and a Mountain Dew. (When there's not a CU game, of course.) And when there's no football on, she's most likely catching up on her taped General Hospital episodes.

What's her favorite team besides the Buffs? The Broncos. Hands down.

She's also had her fair share of embarrassing moments - such as getting her foot caught in the quarterback net and falling flat on her face in addition to falling out of the cart during practice.

Although Rogers loves Boulder and all the beautiful sites it has to offer, she doesn't see herself staying there forever. She has her hopes, but knows that "in this business it's not a matter of going where you want to go. It's a matter of timing, what opens up and if you'd be the right fit."

All in all, Rogers is a real go-getter. Keep your eyes peeled for what she pulls off next.