Who Are The Female Referees In The NFL?
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Who are the female referees in the NFL? As of the 2019 season, there are no full-time female referees in the NFL. However, Sarah Thomas has been a part-time official since 2015, and in 2019 she became the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl.
The NFL’s First Female Referee
In 2013, the NFL hired its first full-time female referee, Sarah Thomas. Prior to being hired by the NFL, Thomas had spent eight years officiating college football games.
Thomas made history in 2015 when she became the first woman to officiate an NFL playoff game. In 2019, she officiated the Super Bowl, becoming the first woman to ever do so.
Thomas is not the only woman currently officiating NFL games; there are a handful of other female referees who work part-time in the league.
Sarah Thomas
Sarah Thomas became the NFL’s first full-time female official in 2015. She had been a college official for more than a decade, working her way up through the ranks.
Thomas made history in 2019 when she officiated the NFC Championship game between the Rams and Saints. She is widely respected by her peers and has earned a reputation as one of the best officials in the league, regardless of gender.
Shannon Eastin
Shannon Eastin was the first woman to officiate an NFL game when she was hired as a part-time replacement official during the 2012 NFL referee lockout. Eastin had previously officiated college football games for 16 years. She was not rehired by the NFL after the lockout ended.
Maia Chaka
Maia Chaka is one of the two female referees in the NFL. She became the first full-time female official in NFL history in 2015. Previously, she had worked as a line judge in the Lingerie Football League. Chaka officiated her first NFL game in 2017.
Other Female Referees in the NFL
Sarah Thomas became the first full-time female NFL referee in 2015.
In the 2016 season, there were three women who served as officials: Sarah Thomas, Shannon Eastin, and Maea Teuhema.
In 2017, Jen Welter became the first woman to coach in the NFL when she was hired by the Arizona Cardinals as a linebackers coach during the preseason.
The 2018 season saw seven women officiate NFL games: Sarah Thomas, Andrea Kropp, Terri Valenti, Dana McKenzie, Sarah Bolwinkle Reaser, Yvette Kelchner and Maia Chaka.
