Thomas makes her bowl debut in Detroit
For the first time in college football bowl history, a woman officiated a major college football bowl game. Sarah Thomas was wearing the zebra stripes officiating as a line judge during the Little Caesars Bowl this past Saturday. As Marshall was battling it out against Ohio, Thomas was blolwing her whistle when she saw fit.
She was excited to be on the field and showed no signs of distraction even though she felt “a little uncomfortable at first because you don’t really want to make it a big deal, but my husband kept telling me that it’s something I should embrace because it’s helping open a door that little girls probably thought was forever shut for them.”
Thomas is not the only female official in the league, there are currently four other women officiating in college football. It was Thomas’ dedication and hard work that enabled her to draw a postseason assignment and hopefully a spot on an NFL crew as she is on the league’s prospect list.
When asking the players about this historical event, it didn’t even make a difference. “I noticed her before the game, but that was it,” said Marshall running back Martin Ward, the game’s MVP. “Once the game started, she was just doing the job that the line judge does in every game we play. It didn’t matter that she was a woman at all.”
Kudos to Thomas, here at TheMatadorSports.com we hope to see you more women like you officiating bowl games.
