WhoDat!656

METAIRIE, La. (AP) A woman who could become the NFL's first female official is training at New Orleans Saints training camp this week.

Sarah Thomas, who lives near Jackson, Miss., is a former college basketball player who started officiating high school games at age 23 and says she never dreamed then that she could become a candidate to officiate NFL games.

Now 40-years old and with three children, she has been officiating college football in Conference USA since 2007, is a member of the NFL's Officiating Development Program and a finalist to become a permanent NFL official. She arrived at Saints camp Thursday and will train there Friday and during Saturday's scrimmage.

She has trained at Saints camp in previous years, and Saints coach Sean Payton says she does "a great job."


Read More: NFL's potential first female official is training with Saints - NFL - SI.com

"A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."

Crusader

Well if she makes it i hope it is because she is good enough and not because of PR.

dizzle88

Good luck to her.

What I don't want to hear is if she gets a call wrong, all these people start coming out and saying "woman shouldn't be allowed to ref." How many times do the male refs completely mess up a call on the field, alot!

lee909

If she is good enough who cares.

SmashMouth

SloMotion

And the first game I want to see her officiating is the 49'ers vs 'anyone' ... it'll drive that s.o.b. Harbaugh crazy having a woman on the field, .

TheOak

Thats BS! Ed Hochuli wears skin tight uniforms but the female wears baggies?






PS... Dear SI, was it prudent to put up a picture of her with something in her mouth?

Crusader

Difference is he is wearing NFL gear and she is wearing college gear

TheOak

Difference is that he shops at Kids Gap.

NFL uniform.. Still baggy.

TheOak

Ha! She steps in and the fight stops as the Rams player starts laughing.