NEW YORK — History will be made on Super Bowl Sunday as Sarah Thomas becomes the first woman to officiate in the Super Bowl.
NFL Officiating announced the roster of officials for the championship game and Thomas was named the down judge.
“Sarah Thomas has made history again as the first female Super Bowl official,” Troy Vincent, Sr., NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations, said. “Her elite performance and commitment to excellence has earned her the right to officiate the Super Bowl. Congratulations to Sarah on this well-deserved honor.”
Officiating the Super Bowl will be another item on Thomas’ barrier-breaking career:
- First woman to officiate a major college football game
- First woman to officiate a bowl game
- First woman to officiate at a Big Ten stadium
- First woman to officiate in the NFL
- First woman to officiate a playoff game
Her first game as an NFL official came on Sep. 13, 2015, when the Kansas City Chiefs visited the Houston Texans.
Thomas has officiated a total of four playoff games, most recently, the divisional matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints.