Sarah Thomas Will Be The First Woman To Officiate An NFL Playoff Game

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Sarah Thomas
Thomas became an NFL official back in 2015.

When Sarah Thomas takes to the field as a down judge during the AFC divisional round game between the Los Angeles Chargers and the New England Patriots, she will be making history as the first woman to officiate in an NFL playoff game.

According to NBC Sports, Thomas has been an NFL official since 2015 and is currently in her fourth season in the league. She started out as a line judge and is now a down judge. Thomas is no stranger to making history. When she entered the league, she was the first full-time female 

Thomas has been a football official for a decade now, where she started calling high school football games, according to Complex. Her eventual climbing of the ranks really started though back in 2009 when she started participating in college games. 

In an interview with the NFL Network, Thomas said "I set out to do this and get involved in officiating not having any idea that there were not any females officiating football. Being a former basketball player, you saw female officiating all the time. So, no, I don’t feel like a pioneer."

The Patriots and Chargers play on Sunday, January 13th at 1:05 P.M. EST.


About The Author
Alexander Cole is the current editor-in-chief of HotNewHipHop. He started at HotNewHipHop back in 2018 where he began as a Sports and Sneakers writer. It was here where he began to hone his craft, putting his journalism degree from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, to good use. Since that time, he has documented some of the biggest stories in the hip-hop world. From the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef to the disturbing allegations against Diddy, Alex has helped HotNewHipHop navigate large-scale stories as they happen. In 2021, he went to the Bahamas for the Big 3's Championship Game. It was here where he got to interview legendary figures like Ice Cube, Clyde Drexler, and Stephen Jackson. He has also interviewed other superstar athletes such as Antonio Brown, Damian Lillard, and Paul Pierce. This is in addition to conversations with social media provocateurs like Jake Paul, and younger respected artists like Kaycyy, Lil Tecca, and Jeleel!
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