In the high-stakes arena of the National Football League, Cathy Lanier, former D.C. police chief, is leading the charge off the field as the NFL's head of security. Now in her eighth season with the NFL, Lanier is focused on safeguarding the league's venues, fans, players and overall image with a practiced eye that leaves no room for distractions — not even the games themselves.

"I focus on it all. Nothing is more important than anything else," she told CBS News. 

At FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, Lanier's work was on display recently as she directed staff on moving fans through new weapon-detecting sensors before a Washington Commanders game. She said the stadium becomes a city of 70,000 or 80,000 people for a few hours at game time. 

Fan violence is an issue Lanier confronts head-on, as she oversees command centers equipped with advanced surveillance systems to monitor and prevent fights in the stands.

"We can catch it all on video. Prevents that hot spot from becoming a fight," she said.

Lanier's story is rooted in resilience and persistence. She had a difficult childhood in Maryland, leaving school early as she became a teenage mom.

"My son was born three months after I turned 15. So I had never even babysat a baby before. I had never held a baby before," she said. "Ninth-grade education. I've got no job. You know, how am I going to provide for him?"

Lanier initially relied on welfare, and in 1990 answered a job advertisement that changed her trajectory: Washington, D.C., was hiring police officers. She joined the force and rose through the ranks, before serving as Washington's police chief in 2007, a position she held for nearly a decade.

Her time as police chief laid the groundwork for her current position with the NFL. She helped coordinate security at large-scale events, including former President Barack Obama's inaugurations.

Over the years, Lanier earned her bachelor's and master's degrees.

"It's not that you make mistakes, it's what you do after you make the mistake that matters," she said. "And the mistakes that I made really turned my life around."

Mark Strassmann

Mark Strassmann has been a CBS News correspondent since January 2001 and is based in the Atlanta bureau.