It has been widely reported that females are now refereeing NFL football. One would have thought their debut was a historic event. As it turns out, firsts are not the same as firsts. Noting who was the first woman NFL referee, either technically or actually, is a fascinating story.
In 2012, a labor dispute erupted between the NFL league (NFL) and the union of NFL referees. This led to a lockout. The 2012 NFL season was fast approaching and both sides were unable to come to an agreement. As a result, the clock was ticking, and for the NFL, desperate times demanded desperate measures.
Plan B for Season 93
In 2012, the National Football League’s (NFL) 93rd season began. As a stalemate grew closer each day, NFLRA member remained locked out. Alternatives were being considered.
“The season 2012 needed to start,” says Barry Mano Publisher of Referee magazine. “And the games had to be staffed by officials.”
In the end, the NFL decided to quickly recruit “replacement” referees for the 2012 season which is now only a few weeks away. First, it was logical to look to experienced officials at the collegiate level. Mano notes that “most college football officials chose not to cross picket lines to fill in these games, as they felt an affinity with their professional NFLRA colleagues.”
Shannon Eastin “Lady Ref”
Scouts are constantly looking out for new referees, at all levels of football, across the country. In 2012, Shannon Eastin, a young referee, was identified as having potential.
Eastin from Tempe, Arizona had been steadily accruing points over the course of 16 years, with notable officiating in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and high school games, as well as the Arizona Cardinals Red & White game. She was a contender.
She was quickly recruited to be one of the replacement officials needed for the NFL season, which started in June 2012. Shannon considered her decision carefully before accepting. “It was a chance I couldn’t miss.”
Eastin recalls two days NFL clinics, after which she officiated in her first preseason game on August 9, wearing the black-and white striped jersey number 27, for a match between the Green Bay Packers vs. San Diego Chargers.
She says, “I knew that millions of people would be watching and it was a chance of a life time.”
Thursday Night Football
In the days of Thursday night football, a preseason opener between the Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers attracted a record-breaking 7.3 million television viewers.
The kickoff was at 7:00pm in San Diego’s Quallcomm Stadium, where 70,000 fans were in attendance. It was a balmy 70 degrees. Fans were prepared for the possibility of some unusual officiating from the replacement officials. However, they were still surprised when the TV camera panned the field. Viewers noticed that something was different. The usual compliments of seven officials were given, but wait a minute… the Line Judge was a woman (gasp!).
Yes, there were some strange calls and delays but Eastin held up… she wasn’t too involved in the game until late… in the second-half, when things started to pick up for her. She called a few plays (one of which was booed) and then signaled the Green Bay touchdown… soon Plan B for season 93 had been completed.
Yes and No
In order to be accurate, those who chronicle NFL football note that “Yes, Shannon Eastin was the first woman to work an NFL match.” The officiating cap and whistle she wore in her first game now reside in the archives of Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Eastin was also scheduled to referee the original officials in Week 4 after NFLRA reached a settlement.
It is important to note that, on the first day of August 9th 2012, despite going against her union and being recruited by chance, it was a historical first. It is a first that will be forever recorded in the history of professional football with an asterisk.
Shannon’s brief stint with the league, as well as others on the replacement official roster was ultimately short lived and has faded since into history. It is obscure and difficult to understand or express.
Regular Refs Return
After a heated debate and a firestorm sparked by a controversial call of a winning touchdown in the Week Three Monday Night game, the lockout was ended after an agreement reached two days later.
After only a few short weeks, replacement officials had caused unsettling moments of confusion, questionable decisions and strange delays, resulting in dissatisfaction among fans and league officials alike.
As they walked onto the field before kickoff, they were greeted with cheers, and as they waved at the crowd, they received a thunderous standing ovation. A fan holding a Welcome Back sign was heard yelling, “Finally!” Finally, we get to yell real refs !”
The emotional nature of pro football was evident as the fans, who had cheered on the kickoff, soon reverted to boos and cat calls in the everlasting and endearing relationship between fans and officials.
Get it Right
The pros were back on the field. The fans were happy and the training, succession and introduction of new officials resumed.
Unfortunately, the lockout resulted in the loss of an outstanding candidate who was duly scouted and rated to be the first female referee.
Sarah Thomas, who worked hard to qualify for NFL officiating, was not eligible to be one of the replacements during the preseason because she is a member the NFLRA union. But it would come soon.
Thomas was on the NFL radar for a long time. She has been officiating major college football games in the Football Bowl Subdivision since 2007. In 2007, she became the very first woman to ever work a big college football match.
A Lasting NFL First
Thomas has had a long career as a referee and is no stranger to breaking barriers.
She attended many officiating workshops and worked at professional training camps. She was prepared for the next level by working with elite football talent and veteran NFL officials.
Sarah Thomas became the first female NFL official to work full-time on April 8, 2015. She was the first woman in history to officiate at a college football game of any significance, a bowl game and in a Big Ten Stadium.
Thomas’s rise in the world of officiating began quickly. In January 2019, Thomas became the first woman to ever work as an on-field official during a playoff game. In January 2021 she will be the first woman in NFL playoff history to receive an on-field position wearing her familiar number 53, and with a blonde ponytail that is highly visible.
In February 2021, following six NFL seasons, and four career playoffs, she was selected to be part of the Super Bowl LV officials. In the Down Judge position and wearing her signature 53, she became the very first woman to ever officiate at a Super Bowl.
Pro Football Firsts
It will be inscribed on the record that Shannon Eastin was only a substitute during a lockout of NFL referees caused by a dispute about a new collective agreement …. And so it was.
There are unquestionably “firsts ” and “firsts “. While the replacement officials who were quickly recruited in 2012 served their purpose during their brief tenure, they faded away as an oddity that was created out of necessity. It is regrettable that Eastin’s first appearance was so tainted with controversy and under such circumstances.
Sarah Thomas, who started out as a line-judge in 2015, rose to the position of down judge by 2017, which is now a gender neutral position. She has truly ignited a change in the NFL and for all female referees.
Barry Mano states that there are four women who have held official officiating positions in the NFL, and three of them remain active. In addition to Sarah Thomas, Maia Chaka (Line Judge since 2021) and Robin DeLorenzo (Line Judge since 2022) are also active. In 2012 Terri Vallenti joined the NFL in the role of Replay Coordinator. She was promoted to Replay Official and retired from that position in 2021 .”
In retrospect, and in reality, the two historical “female football firsts” shouldn’t be weighed in opposition to each other… rather, they should be seen in tandem, as Eastin’s unexpected and unwelcomed beginning, and Thomas’s well-heralded debut, that “broke” the barrier and shattered “the grass ceiling” both in Pro Football and in the NFL… today and forever.
The whistle blew and the call was made… without any challenge.
A young girl somewhere is watching…and thinking… “I could do that.”
Don Logay, a journalist who has won numerous awards and was the former editor-in-chief of three magazines in Canada, is a well-known name. He writes articles on luxury lifestyle for many publications. You can reach him at (949) 244 4444 or [email protected].
The article Women Referees Breaking the NFL Barrier first appeared on Vegas Legal Magazine.