NFL not commenting on potential hiring of female official

Posted by Mike Florio on April 3, 2015, 10:49 AM EDT
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The NFL isn’t talking, yet, about the report that the league is set to hire the first female official in league history.  Specifically, the league isn’t denying it.

“The 2015 roster of officials has not yet been finalized,” the league office said in response to the report.  “When it is, the new officials for 2015 and the entire roster will be announced.”

Per a league source, that announcement is expected to come next week.  Which means that, if the roster of officials isn’t finalized, it’s close.

Which means that it’s just a matter of time before the league confirms that Sarah Thomas will become the first female official in NFL history.

Technically, of course, Thomas won’t be the first female official in league history.  In 2012, the NFL hired Shannon Eastin as a replacement official during the lockout.

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35 responses to “NFL not commenting on potential hiring of female official”

  6. Let’s hope Sarah does better than Shannon did. Either way, I have full confidence she’ll be better than at least half the officials out there. I hope the players give her the same respect as they would to a male official (e.g. some, but not too much).

  7. If she’s graded out as the best available ref then I have no problem with it whatsoever. But if this is a PR hire I have a problem with it….can’t mess with on the field integrity. But props to her if she graded out higher than any of the men available for the job!

  8. I don’t care who the officials are as long as they do a good job. Frankly, I hope we’ll reach a point soon when a female being hired is not a news story.

  9. If she’s the best candidate available then cool. If they’re doing it just to get a woman on the field then it’s moronic.

  11. Who cares about hiring a female. NFL fans around the world are awaiting news on hiring the first openly gay officials.

    (For those of you who need it, you may mentally insert a sarc tag)

  12. Neanderthals will be having fits if that happens. They’re ruining their precious “he-man woman haters domain” . The funny thing is that most haters never even made their high school teams and are now experts on all things-football.

    My advice, claim religious persecution and move to Arkansas or Indiana before it’s too late.

  14. She will be asked plenty of questions, none of them being more important than this one: was it, or wasn’t it, a catch?

  19. But if this is a PR hire I have a problem with it….can’t mess with on the field integrity.

    —————————————————-

    …WAAAAY to late on the field intergrity…GODdell destroyed that years ago…and KEEPS destroying it.

  22. Prediction:

    NFL hires somebody to conduct an investigations into who grabbed/said what to whom, when.

    Results of the investigation will be buried until the Instagram photos are given to the media.

  24. To me there is no reason, if the best, there shouldn’t be women refs in pro football.

    To those asking about drag queen cheerleaders, just watch. With the way “tolerance” is being forced down our throats you can bet that’s coming and soon. First time a real attempt is made the lynch mob will force one be put on a squad and there you have it.

    However, as far as I’m concerned cheerleaders are on borrowed time. It was a nice gig for everyone, teams got relatively free entertainment for the game/events and girls got really good exposure/facetime for modeling/acting/singing/dancing but now that they’re suing the teams and wanting to make a career out of it it’s going bye bye.

  26. Penalties will be assessed, but no longer communicated to the teams. Officials to just say “Fine!” and give them 15 yards and the silent treatment.

  27. What a bunch of PC nonsense. These refs spend years doing high school then small college, then major college, and then after many years, they might get a shot at the NFL.

    But hey, we need a woman, so skip all that and just bump her up to the NFL ahead of guys who have done it longer and better.

    And for what? Are there a bunch of women who will now watch football because there is a female ref? Doubtful.

    It’s all for publicity at the possible expense of the integrity of the game. The NFL has enough referee problems and now they aren’t even going to promote the best people? Crazy.

  30. Unlike in the NBA, if she gets knocked over during a game, 22 guys will be running over to help her back up.

  31. She couldn’t possibly be any worse than the old guys they have out there now. Those old guys can’t keep up with the action on the field.

  32. Sometimes people can see the lawsuit coming and avoid it without trouble. Other times, despite all the red flags and warning signals, corporations run full speed ahead knowing there will be lawsuits.

    Harassment, locker room accommodations, hostile workplace, verbal abuse, height discrimination, etc. Those lawsuits are coming if this happens.

  34. The hopeful part of me wants to say that the NFL knows there will be a megaspotlight on every call she makes. They’ll make sure she’s so well prepared that the issue of her gender will fade quickly. But sometimes it’s amazing how the NFL league office misses the obvious.

    She can’t be any worse than any of the other refs missing calls.

  35. What a bunch of PC nonsense. These refs spend years doing high school then small college, then major college, and then after many years, they might get a shot at the NFL.

    But hey, we need a woman, so skip all that and just bump her up to the NFL ahead of guys who have done it longer and better.

    And for what? Are there a bunch of women who will now watch football because there is a female ref? Doubtful.

    It’s all for publicity at the possible expense of the integrity of the game. The NFL has enough referee problems and now they aren’t even going to promote the best people? Crazy.
    ________________________________
    I’m a woman and I’ve been watching football for at least 35 years. I know as much or more about football as you do. Having a female official is not going to compromise the integrity of the game. You act like she came from the couch to the NFL. She’s been working as an official since 1999 and she did an NFL preseason game last year. She worked the high school level from 1999 – 2007 and Conference USA hired her in 2007. In 2011, she was the first female referee to work in a Big Ten stadium.

    You say she shouldn’t be bumped ahead of guys who have done it longer and better. If the current crop of NFL officials is the benchmark, then she should do well compared to them. Why do you care so much about the gender of an official instead of whether or not the official gets it right? The men currently doing the job now average at mediocre.

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