Sarah Thomas Has Reportedly Been Hired as the First Female NFL Official

For the first time in NFL history a woman has been hired as an official. Sarah Thomas is her name and she is definitely up for the challenge! An article on ESPN.com from back in August of 2013 foreshadowed that Thomas would be the woman for the job.

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 on Thursday and will train there Friday and during Saturday's scrimmage.

ESPN also posted a photo of Sarah in her referee uniform on their Facebook page.

'Being raised with brothers I'm just one of the guys, I guess,' she said. 'I don't try to be one of the guys. I am a female, but I don't look at myself as just a female. I look at myself as an official. With their respect and the respect that I have for them, it just doesn't feel like it's a male-dominated profession.'

Way to go Sarah Thomas! You should be very proud of yourself and you are an example for women everywhere!