HOUSTON (AP) — Rose Kelley was jogging through Memorial Park one summer evening when she saw a group of women practicing football. One of the women spotted Kelley, with her sturdy frame and strong legs, and figured her for an athlete.

The Houston Herricanes had found their latest recruit.

The Houston Chronicle reports the year was 1978, six years after Richard Nixon signed Title IX legislation and five years after tennis star Billie Jean King bested Bobby Riggs in three consecutive sets in the "Battle of the Sexes" at the Houston Astrodome. The sight of women simply tossing around the pigskin...