National Football League announced on Tuesday the refereeing team for the 55th match of Super Bowl of which it is a part Sarah Thomas, the first woman to act as a judge at this great sporting event.
Thomas, 47, will be one of seven referees for the Feb. 7 game in Tampa, Florida, as a judge for Downs. In 2015, she became the first permanent judge in NFL history and in 2019 the first to referee a playoff game.
“Sarah Thomas has made history again as the first official Super Bowl woman,” said Troy Vincent, vice president of National Football League operations. “His elite performance and commitment to excellence have earned him the right to referee the Super Bowl,” the manager added.
Thomas was part of the development program of NFL between 2013 and 2014. He was a judge in the pre-season games, including Chip Kelly’s first appearance as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. He comes from a family of referees, because his two brothers are also referees at the collegiate level.
Carl Cheffers, with 21 seasons of NFL experience, being the referee of the Super Bowl for the second time in his career, after 2017. “They are the best of the best,” Vincent said of the judging team. “Their work over a season of 17 games has brought them the honor of officiating the most important game on the largest stage in the world.”
Teams participating in the Super Bowl will emerge from Sunday’s conference final between reigning champions Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills and between the Tampa Bay Buccanneers and Green Bay Packers.