Report: NFL To Hire Sarah Thomas As First Female Game Official
(CBS) The NFL will hire Sarah Thomas as its first female game official, the Baltimore Sun's Aaron Wilson reported Friday.
Thomas had previously been a finalist for the job and was the first female to officiate an NCAA football game back in 2007.
A native of Pascagoula, Miss., Thomas played basketball in college at the University of Mobile. She had been on the NFL's radar for some times, with vice president of officiating Dean Blandino saying in 2013 that she "was in our pipeline for a while" while adding that getting the final promotion takes time for any prospective official.
"It's similar from when a players jumps from college to the NFL," Blandino said at the time. "Getting used to that type of speed is important."
Thomas previously officiated NFL preseason games and in training camps. Technically, she's not the first female to officiate an NFL game; Shannon Eastin did so in 2012 as a replacement ref. But Thomas is the first to get the full-time nod from the league.