Jeanne Bonk remembers her first NFL owners meeting in 1991, when roll callcame to the San Diego Chargers and she answered, causing heads to turn. Topleague ranks had few women at that time, so the higher-pitched voice stood out.Not so much today, Bonk said, adding that she never feels as if she is a woman in theNFL — just a top finance executive. “I don’t feel that I am treated any differently,” shesaid. In fact, Bonk said, she makes it a point not to join any women-in-sports groups,feeling that women can prove their worth individually.

Her job is all things financially Chargers, whether that’s trying to get a new stadiumor overseeing business and player contracts. A Southern California native, she grew upplaying tennis and softball (one year collegiately), but she has learned to love footballso much that her peers know never to call her the morning after a loss.