According to TMZ on Tuesday, Sarah Thomas of Pascagoula, Mississippi, is set to become the first female official in Super Bowl history. The 47-year-old has been officiating in the National Football League for the last six years. The game will take place on February 7 from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida.
Thomas will be a down judge. She will be joined by referee Carl Cheffers, umpire Fred Bryan, line judge Rusty Baynes, field judge James Coleman, side judge Eugene Hall, back judge Dino Paganelli, and replay official Mike Wimmer.
This past year, Thomas was part of the officiating crew that had Shawn Hochuli as the referee. If the last name Hochuli sounds familiar it should, because Shawn’s father Ed was a National Football League referee from 1990 to 2017. Shawn was actually promoted from back judge to referee three years ago when his father retired.
Thomas has been a trailblazer over the years when it has come to being an official on the professional sports stage. In addition to being the first female to officiate a Super Bowl, she was the first female official of a major college football game (Memphis and Jacksonville State in 2007), first to officiate a College Bowl Game (the 2009 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl at the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit between the University of Ohio and the University of Marshall), and the first permanent female official in the NFL.
Due to the fact Thomas is in the National Football League, the term “head linesman” is no longer used. The change of terminology to “down judge” was made in 2017.
This will be the second Super Bowl as a referee for Cheffers. He previously was the referee for Super Bowl LI between the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots. The Super Bowl is recognized as the greatest in history, as Tom Brady helped the Patriots come back from a 28-3 deficit to win 34-28.
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