Who Are The Female Refs In The NFL?
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Who are the female referees in the NFL? You may be surprised to learn that there are quite a few! Here’s a look at some of the most notable women in this important role.
The First Female Ref
In 2012, Shannon Eastin became the first female to referee an NFL game. She was a fill-in for the regular officials, who were locked out at the time. Eastin had been a referee for 16 years in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, which is a Division I conference.
Sarah Thomas
Sarah Thomas became the NFL’s first full-time female official in 2015. Prior to that, she had been a college football official for over a decade. Sarah is widely respected by her peers and is known for her hard work and dedication to the game.
In 2019, Thomas became the first woman to officiate an NFL playoff game. She has also officiated the Super Bowl, making her the first woman to officiate the biggest game in professional football.
Thomas is a role model for women everywhere and is proof that with hard work and determination, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
Shannon Eastin
Shannon Eastin (born December 12, 1966) is an American football official. She was the first woman to officiate a regular season game in the National Football League (NFL).
Eastin was raised in Granada Hills, Los Angeles. She played softball and was a two-sport athlete in high school, also playing volleyball. After high school she attended California State University, Hayward (now California State University, East Bay), where she played both sports. Eastin graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physical education.
Eastin began her officiating career in 1990 as a line judge in the Arizona Women’s Football League. In 1999, she joined the Independent Women’s Football League (IWFL), officiating games as a line judge and referee. In 2006, Eastin was one of 22 officials selected to participate in the NFL’s Officiating Development Program; she was the only woman among the group chosen.
In August 2012, during the NFL referee lockout, Shannon Eastin became the first woman to officiate an NFL game in a preseason contest between the Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers.
How They Got There
Sarah Thomas made history in 2015 when she became the first female official in the NFL. In 2019, she made history again as the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl. There are now a total of 8 female referees in the NFL. So, how did they all get there? Let’s take a look.
Sarah Thomas
Sarah Thomas became the NFL’s first full-time female referee in 2015. She had been a referee in Conference USA since 2007, and in 2009, she became the first woman to officiate a major college football game. She has worked several NFL preseason games and was one of the referees for the 2015 Pro Bowl.
Shannon Eastin
Shannon Eastin was the first woman to officiate an NFL game in 2012, but she is far from the only one making history. Eastin made her debut during the preseason game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Diego Chargers. She officiated for 16 years in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), where she was also a professor at Coppin State University.
In 2015, Maia Chaka became the NFL’s first full-time female official. Before becoming an official, Chaka was a college lacrosse player and coach. She officiated High School games for seven years before being hired by the NFL in 2015.
Sarah Thomas became the first woman to officiate a playoff game in 2015 when she officiated the wildcard matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans. Thomas has been officiating games since 1996 and has been a part of Conference USA since 2007.
These women are inspiring a new generation of female officials and shattering glass ceilings in the process.
What The NFL Thinks
There is no question that the National Football League has a image problem when it comes to how they handle matters of domestic violence. The same could be said about their treatment of female officials. The NFL has been dominated by men for so long that it seems that they are afraid of losing their grip on what has been a “man’s world.”
Sarah Thomas
Sarah Thomas is the first full-time female official in NFL history.Born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, she played college football at the University of Mobile and was a member of the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad for a short time.
Sarah officiated her first NFL game in 2015, making her the first woman to ever do so. She made history again in 2019 when she became the first woman to officiate an NFL playoff game.
As of 2021, Sarah is one of only two full-time female officials in the NFL, along with Caity Heffernan.
Shannon Eastin
Shannon Eastin became the first woman to officiate an NFL game in 2012. She was met with mixed reactions from players, coaches, and fans. Some people thought it was a great step for gender equality in the NFL, while others thought that she wasn’t qualified to be an official.
Eastin had been a referee in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) for 16 years before being hired by the NFL. She officiated over 100 college football games, including nine bowl games.
In the NFL, she officiated four preseason games before being assigned to a regular season game between the Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers. She was later assigned to two more regular season games.
After her time in the NFL, Eastin returned to officiating in the MEAC.
What The Fans Think
There has been a lot of talk lately about the NFL’s decision to allow female refs. Some people are for it and some are against it. I wanted to get a pulse of what the fans think about this decision, so I took to social media to find out.
Sarah Thomas
Sarah Thomas made history in 2015 when she became the first full-time female referee in the NFL. Since then, she’s been a trailblazer for other women looking to enter the male-dominated world of professional football officiating.
Born and raised in Mississippi, Thomas played basketball and softball in high school before going on to play college basketball at the University of Mobile. After several years working as a high school basketball referee, she was recruited by the NFL in 2014 and spent that season as a line judge in the league’s minor league system, the NFL Officiating Development Program.
In 2015, Thomas made her NFL debut as a field judge during a preseason game between the San Diego Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys. The following year, she became the first woman to officiate an NFL playoff game when she served as a line judge during a Wild Card matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals.
In 2017, Thomas made headlines again when she became the first woman to officiate an NFL game alone, without any other female officials on the field. She accomplished this feat during a Week 2 contest between the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns.
Thomas is currently one of only two full-time female officials in the NFL, along with Dana McKenzie. She is widely respected by her peers and is considered one of the best officials in the league, regardless of gender.
Shannon Eastin
Shannon Eastin became the first woman to ref an NFL game in 2012.
Many fans had positive things to say about her debut, with some even saying she did a better job than the regular refs!
However, others were not so pleased, with some arguing that she didn’t know the rules as well as her male counterparts.
Regardless of the mixed opinions, it’s clear that Shannon Eastin made history and inspired other women to pursue their dreams of becoming an NFL referee.
