--- description: She began her officiating career in high school title: NFL Hires First Full-Time Female Official image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2c2c86da91aa723/698786930b72e3302e6de7e2/sarah-thomas-nfl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Football](/tag/football/) ## Football Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # NFL Hires First Full-Time Female Official by [Scooby Axson / Sports Illustrated](/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Scooby Axson / Sports Illustrated Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 3, 2015 2:51 PM CUT  Sarah Thomas at a preseason game between the Oakland Raiders and the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans on Aug. 16, 2013 . Sarah Thomas at a preseason game between the Oakland Raiders and the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans on Aug. 16, 2013 .Stacy Revere—Getty Images by [Scooby Axson / Sports Illustrated](/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Scooby Axson / Sports Illustrated Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 3, 2015 2:51 PM CUT The NFL has hired its first time full-time female official, [reports](https://twitter.com/RavensInsider/status/583970982693580800 "undefined") the _Baltimore Sun’_s Aaron Wilson. Sarah Thomas, a native of Mississippi who began her officiating career in high school, officiated games before leaving to continue her career in pharmaceutical sales. She was then contacted by Gerald Austin, who was a coordinator of football officials for Conference USA. Thomas started working for the conference in 2007 and became the first woman to officiate a bowl game in 2009. She then joined the NFL’s Officiating Development Program, worked some New Orleans [Saints](http://www.si.com/nfl/team/new-orleans-saints "undefined")‘ training camps, and also officiated a NFL preseason game last August. Thomas [told](http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-am/0ap2000000224941/First-woman-NFL-referee "undefined") the NFL Network last year that she doesn’t feel like a pioneer and did not face any resistance from others while in the development program. _Read more:_ [_BURKE & FARRAR: SI’s top 64 prospects in the 2015 NFL draft_](http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/03/30/2015-nfl-draft-big-board-top-64-prospects "undefined") “I set out to do this and get involved in officiating not having any idea that there were not any females officiating football” she said. “Being a former basketball player, you saw female officiating all the time, so no I don’t feel like a pioneer.” In 2012, Shannon Eastin who was hired as a non-union official during the 2012 lockout by referees, was the first woman to officiate a regular season game in a contest between the St. Louis [Rams](http://www.si.com/nfl/team/st-louis-rams "undefined") and Detroit [Lions](http://www.si.com/nfl/team/detroit-lions "undefined"). _This_ [_article_](http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/04/03/nfl-female-official-sarah-thomas "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_SI.com_](http://www.si.com/ "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3770570/nfl-hires-first-full-time-female-official/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3770570/nfl-hires-first-full-time-female-official/"},"headline":"NFL Hires First Full-Time Female Official","datePublished":"2015-04-03T14:51:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:41:23.249Z","description":"She began her officiating career in high school","url":"https://time.com/3770570/nfl-hires-first-full-time-female-official/","keywords":["Football","NFL","female"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2c2c86da91aa723/698786930b72e3302e6de7e2/sarah-thomas-nfl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Scooby Axson / Sports Illustrated"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte2c2c86da91aa723/698786930b72e3302e6de7e2/sarah-thomas-nfl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sarah Thomas at a preseason game between the Oakland Raiders and the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans on Aug. 16, 2013 .","caption":"Sarah Thomas at a preseason game between the Oakland Raiders and the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans on Aug. 16, 2013 .","creditText":"Stacy Revere—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/football/","name":"Football"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3770570/nfl-hires-first-full-time-female-official/","name":"NFL Hires First Full-Time Female Official"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Wearing a Weapon: The Football Helmet's Dangerous Evolution","description":"The history of how helmets arrived on the football field","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ArcR8sPL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-01-28T20:10:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ArcR8sPL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3770570/nfl-hires-first-full-time-female-official/","duration":"PT2M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3770570/nfl-hires-first-full-time-female-official/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```