NFL reportedly hires Sarah Thomas as first female game official

The NFL has hired its first female official in Sarah Thomas, according to reports from the Baltimore Sun's Aaron Wilson. Thomas has been in the league's "pipeline for a while," Dean Blandino, the NFL's VP of officiating, said in 2013. CBS Sports notes that she was the first female to officiate an NCAA football game, back in 2007, and has since worked NFL preseason games and training camps, in an effort to adjust to the league's speed.

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While Thomas would be the NFL's first official female hire, she would not technically be the first woman to work a sideline; that distinction is held by Shannon Eastin, who worked a game as a replacement ref during the 2012 season.