Matt Mathias

Sports Editor

mcm5909@psu.edu

 “A successful person is someone who can make a firm foundation with the bricks that others have thrown at him or her.” The story of NFL official Sarah Thomas is a tale of adversity lying in wait around every corner. Before becoming the first woman to officiate an NFL game, Thomas spent her time constantly positioning herself for success. All her life, she had been competing with boys and men. Not only did she play for the boys’ basketball team in middle school, but she also played in a men’s recreational basketball league for three years. In 1996, Thomas was kicked out of this rec league because “the men were not comfortable guarding her.” However, she did not let this stop her from doing what she loved. Growing up, she noted that her family watched sports religiously. “Whatever season it was, that’s what we watched and that’s what we participated in,” Thomas said.

Sarah found herself entering the world of officiating when she attended a meeting for aspiring football officials with her brother. At the time, she had no clue that no woman had ever done that before, nor did she know that she would be compensated for her time. Her journey continued in youth sports as a referee for 10 years as she would suit up for games in her car or in a public restroom. “I took every snap I could get,” she said.

Following years of hard work, she was noticed by official NFL scouts. She was called up by one of these recruiters and was told that she has what it takes to reach the next level. Recalling the story at the event she said that, ”He wasn’t even there to scout me, nor did he realize I was a woman. He said that my field presence was outstanding. It wasn’t about the calls I got right or wrong, but rather how I conducted myself with the crew and the coaches is what separated me from the rest. No matter what you do, right or wrong, someone is always watching how you carry yourself and go about your business. It matters.” This was foot in the door that Sarah needed to continue moving up in the ranks of officiating.

Regardless of the fact that she was rising rapidly as a referee, Thomas still faced levels of adversity due to her gender. When she was hired in 2007, her identity was suppressed by her superior. The man who hired her listed her on their roster as “S.B. Thomas” and did not inform the commissioner that he had in fact hired a woman. So finally, he was forced to break the news. In response to Sarah’s true identity, the commissioner said, “well what in the world are we going to do, surely we’re not going to let her be on the field and officiate.” However, thanks to her hard work before this point, Thomas already was recommended with high praise from two universities that were completely fine with her being on the field. It was settled, Sarah Thomas would be permitted to continue her career.

Thomas faced yet another hurdle that a man would never have to face in 2012. She was pregnant, which left her supervisor stunned. He didn’t know how to handle the situation, so he said that he’ll tell his higher ups that she had a “high ankle sprain and would be out a few weeks,” which obviously would not pass for the nine-month pregnancy period. Following the pregnancy, everybody thought that her officiating career was over. Being a mother, how could she continue to travel and pursue her career with a newborn? Well, Thomas proved everyone wrong once again in April of 2013 when she was finally hired by the NFL’s developmental program. Prior to that, she had been working with the mini camps and training camps prior to the regular season. It was at this point that the mainstream media picked up her journey. Sarah knew she was being watched. It wasn’t until 2015 where she finally broke out of the developmental program and made an official crew for regular season games.

For a period of time, Thomas was forced to tuck her hair under her hat to continue to hide her identity and not draw too much attention to it. “I thought about bringing it out midseason during a big-time game, but I thought better. If I do that, then the attention is going to be on me. Its going to be on me, about my hair and not about the job we had to do,” Thomas said. “When something is taken from you and you try to alter who you really are, you are going to be not as assertive and not as confident. Try to stay focused on who you are.”

Not only was Thomas the first female to officiate an NFL game, but she also was the first woman to officiate a major college football game, with the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, and also Superbowl 55 in 2021. These milestones mean everything to the future of women in sports. The biggest sign of that is the fact that Thomas is no longer the only female NFL referee, as she is joined by Maia Chaka.

“Don’t go through life trying to prove people wrong,” Thomas said at the end of the Speaker Series event. “You’re going to exhaust yourself because that list of people will never end. Instead focus on proving to yourself that you belong.” She further spoke about how far leadership goes in the professional world by saying, “A boss has a title, but a leader has people. And I have learned that the people that are seeking recognition will do anything to get it. The toes they step on to get up the ladder of success will be the backside that they kiss on the way back down. You’ve got to do it the right way: with hard work.”

“I have worked my tail off. 26 seasons. Peewee’s, junior high, JV’s, varsity, high school, college, etc. Your work ethic and how you carry yourself will dictate when the recognition will come.” Thomas never doubted herself and her drive in her many years as a line judge on many levels of competitive play. “You just have to do things because you truly love it,” Thomas stated. “It is not going to be glorious all of the time but my failures have turned into some of my greatest successes. I tell my kids that I want them to fail at something, I just don’t want them to like the taste of it. And if you’re constantly comparing yourself to others, it steals your joy. Look at yourself in the mirror if you want to produce. Motivate yourself.” Thomas’s journey, through successes and failures, surely serves as a milestone that other women and men in the industry can strive to replicate.