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Female Football Official in the Super Bowl


Bobref

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Carl Cheffers is our referee for the Super Bowl. But the big news is Sarah Thomas becomes the first female official assigned to a Super Bowl. 

With the current shortage of football officials in Indiana, there are real opportunities for younger officials — including women officials, to move up fast. As you can see by the article, the sky’s the limit. If you know a young woman who loves football, let her know these opportunities exist. 

http://www.footballzebras.com/2021/01/carl-cheffers-is-the-referee-for-super-bowl-lv-sarah-thomas-becomes-the-first-woman-to-officiate-a-super-bowl/ 

Carl Cheffers is the referee for Super Bowl LV. Sarah Thomas becomes the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl

ASSIGNMENTS

 

SUPER BOWL LV

  by Cameron Filipe - January 19, 20216

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this post that misidentified some members of the crew has been changed.

Football Zebras has confirmed that Carl Cheffers will be the referee for Super Bowl LV in Tampa.

Cheffers, 60, is in his 21st season and 13th as referee. This is Cheffers’ 15th postseason assignment, including 5 Wild Card Playoffs, 6 Divisional Playoffs, 2 Conference Championships. He previously officiated Super Bowl LI in the 2016 season. Cheffers was the referee for the Ravens-Bills Divisional Playoff last Saturday.

Cheffers is a sales manager from Whittier, Calif., who joined the NFL in 2000 after working five years in the Pac-10 Conference, now the Pac-12.

Also of note, down judge Sarah Thomas, hired in 2015 as the first woman official on the NFL’s full-time roster, will now make history again as the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl.

A referee must have at least 5 years of seniority, worked 3 years at the referee position, and worked a playoff game as a referee in a previous postseason. The other members of the Super Bowl crew have traditionally had a Conference Championship game on their résumé (or received on-field assignments in 3 of the last 5 postseasons) in addition to being at least a 5-year veteran. This year, that criteria appears to have been relaxed.

Entering this postseason, Thomas has worked two other postseason games; she earned the third this year, but that ordinarily means her Super Bowl eligibility would begin next year. Sources told Football Zebras in 2016 that she was slated to get a wild card assignment that year, but was sidelined with a broken wrist at the end of the regular season. Field judge James Coleman also has not had the requisite recent experience for a Super Bowl assignment, having a divisional assignment in 2018 and 2014, although he was injured in the 2015 season. He has picked up at least an alternate assignment and a Pro Bowl in those seasons he has not worked on the field, but that has not been a consideration previously. All other members of the crew 

As such, Thomas and Coleman are the two officials on the Super Bowl crew that will be working the Super Bowl for the first time in their careers. The remaining members of the crew will be working their second Super Bowl: Cheffers, umpire Fred Bryan, line judge Rusty Baynes, side judge Eugene Hall, and back judge Dino Paganelli.

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