All Alyssa Derrick was doing on May 3 was tossing a football around an apartment complex parking lot.

Little did the the third baseman for the University of Maine softball team know that her strong arm would lead her to become an internet sensation.

Derrick, a sophomore for coach Mike Coutts’ Black Bears, has been taking the internet by storm thanks to a Twitter video during which she shows off her right arm. The difference is, this time it’s with a football.

A video of Derrick making a lengthy throw across a parking lot was captured during UMaine’s annual “Maine Day” celebration May 3, a day set aside for spring cleaning on campus.

The native of Coventry, Rhode Island, posted the video on her Twitter page earlier this month, and the post received more than 100 retweets and 200 likes.

Other media organizations such as ESPNW and Bleacher Report have subsequently reposted the video, something Derrick did not expect.

“I had no idea,” Derrick said when asked if she believed the clip would garner this much attention.

She added that she didn’t even know the other guys she was throwing the ball around with.

“I just kind of joined,” said Derrick. “I grew up doing that in my neighborhood.”

Derrick said the guys were shocked when the pass — a perfect spiral that Tom Brady would have loved — went as far as it did, but she didn’t.

“I knew I could throw the ball (that far),” she said confidently.

The attention Derrick has received from the video has been mainly positive, and she knows as an athlete that you have to focus on that as opposed to negative comments.

“You’ve got to block out all the negatives,” she said.

Derrick is back in her native Rhode Island working at a local gym and at a Chinese restaurant, but will be back in Maine in July with teammates to run some softball camps. She said a lot of parents were asking if she was going to run the camps because of what an inspiration she is.

If anything, Derrick is hoping a lot of young female athletes will take notice, because a short clip on the internet can often be the source for a lot of inspiration.

“If you want to play football and you’re a girl, go play football,” she advised.

Derrick was even receiving support from UMaine football coach Joe Harasymiak, who tweeted “Camp starts August 1” after seeing the video, referring to the first day of the Black Bears’ preseason training camp.

The Women’s Pro Football Association responded with, “When she’s ready, there will likely be a spot for her on one of our 60+ women’s pro tackle football teams.”

Derrick, the 2016 America East Rookie of the Year, followed up her stellar freshman campaign by batting .308 and slugging 15 home runs for the Black Bears this past spring.

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