Sarah Thomas (TOI)
Find out all you need to know about the first female referee in NFL
The NFL is one of the most popular leagues in the world. The fluent flow of the games his highly important in any sport/league and that is why the referees play a major role in any given sport. It becomes more important when we talk about NFL because of the high physicality of the game.
With the world evolving and giving females equal opportunity to women to be on the same level as men NFL did not have any female referee for nearly 95 years. In comes Sarah Thomas who became the first ever full time female official in the history of the league. Thomas was officially signed back in 2015 and has been a part of NFL ever since.
Thomas has seen a very distinct turn in her career. She was one of the best basketball prospects coming out of her college. However, she left the sport and began officiating when she was 23 years old in 1996. 11 years later Thomas became the first female to officiate a major college football game in 2007.
Thomas continued to work her way up and finally get signed as the first female referee in NFL in 2015. Thomas made her officiating debut on September 13, 2015 in the Kansas City Chiefs vs Houston Texans match. In 2019, she became the first female official to be a part of a playoff game as well.
However, none of these achievements matter in front of her appearance in the Super Bowl LV. Thomas was a part of the officiating crew in the Super Bowl game between the Chiefs and Buccaneers. This marked Thomas as the first female ever to officiate a Super Bowl game.
Six years after Sarah Thomas became the first female referee in the NFL ever, Maia Chaka was appointed as the first black woman ever to be a NFL referee. Not only this, Chaka also became the second female ever to officiate a NFL game. She made her debut just a little while ago back in September 2021.
Chaka’s NFL debut came in the game between Carolina Panthers and the New York Jets on September 12, 2021. She also has an illustrious officiating career and was also a part of the 2021 Senior Bowl officiating crew apart from other big college football games.
As of now, there are only two female referees in the NFL. However, NFL regularly adds female officials to it’s official training camp. Though only two have ever made it out to an actual NFL game more female referees can soon be expected in the NFL.
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