Sarah Thomas takes the field next month. She will become the first female referee in Super Bowl’s 54-year history. The 47-year-old match official will also cap her sixth National Football League (NFL) season, the NFL announced on Tuesday. Thomas will serve as a down judge in the crew headed by referee Carl Cheffers' on February 7. The 55th edition of Super Bowl league will kickstart in Tampa, Florida.
This is the first time that a woman will be officiating the Super Bowl. The first-ever super ball game was played in 1967.
Thomas, who joined the NFL in 2015 as its first female on-field official, will add yet another “first” in her tally of successes after making history in 2019 by becoming the first woman to officiate an NFL playoff game in league history. This happened just four years after she became the league's first full-time female official.
NFL's executive vice resident of operations, Troy Vincent, in a statement, said that Thomas' "elite performance" and "commitment to excellence" has earned her this "well-deserved honor" to officiate the game. "Sarah Thomas has made history again," he noted.
As women, the way we carry ourselves speaks a lot. Field presence is what they talk about - Thomas had said in 2017.
“But you can still be a woman, you can be attractive, and whatever way you carry yourself speaks volumes to the reception. A man may feel as if may he can have his way or whatever, but I just think that when we carry ourselves with confidence, and walk into a room with confidence, the atmosphere kind of changes,” she had added.
Before NFL, Thomas became the first female official to work in a Big Ten stadium in 2011. In 2009, she was the first woman to officiate a college football bowl game.
Mississippi native Thomas is a mother of three and also a former college athlete.
Feature Image Credit: Daily Wire
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