A Brief History
On August 9, 2012, Shannon Eastin became the first woman to referee an NFL football game. Like many professional football officials, she started out as a referee in high school and then college football games.
Digging Deeper
Eastin got her big break when the NFL and the referee union had contract troubles and the regular refs were locked out in 2012. Some sports writers and the NFL Referees Association objected to her employment by the NFL, especially since she had participated in the World Series of Poker, and pro sports are highly sensitive to anyone with ties or history with gambling.
Far from a single sport woman, Eastin is also the holder of six national championships in Judo and has a company that trains football and basketball referees.
The NFL, that bastion of masculinity, now can boast of three female referees, 15 female coaches, 12 female team owners, 17 female executives, and 319 women working in the League Office.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Eastin, Shannon. Lady Ref: Making Calls in a Man’s World. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2023.
Welter, Jen. Play Big: Lessons in Being Limitless from the First Woman to Coach in the NFL. Seal Press, 2017.
The featured image in this article, an illustration by Mohamed_hassan, is licensed under the Pixabay License.
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