What You Need to Know About Sarah Thomas, the First Female Super Bowl Referee
Updated Feb. 7 2021, 4:30 p.m. ET
NFL referee Sarah Thomas, made sports history on Feb. 7, 2021, when she became the first woman to officiate the Super Bowl. “Her elite performance and commitment to excellence has earned her the right to officiate the Super Bowl,” Troy Vincent the executive vice-president of football operations stated recently. If you're curious about Sarah's personal life, here's what you need to know about the 47-year-old pro.
Who is Sarah Thomas' husband?
Sarah Thomas is married to Brian Thomas, and the two have three children together. Sarah has gone on record to explain how supportive Brian and her family members are, telling ABC News in 2013, "I could not do this without the support of my husband and my kids. It [refereeing] has been a part of my children’s lives ever since they’ve been here, so this is just what mom does."
According to the New York Times, Brian sells medical equipment and coaches baseball. The two got married in 2000.
In 2009, Brian told the NYT, "I wasn’t going to stand in her way. We’ve figured out a way to make our schedule work for the kids. I’m hustling in the fall, and she is in the spring and summer.”
Sarah Thomas' family is super supportive.
Sarah and Brian Thomas have three children: teen sons, Bridley and Brady, and a daughter, Bailey. Sarah seems to be extremely private, so she doesn't have any public social media accounts — nor is she known to share photos of her family and private life.
According to NFL.com, Bailey had a school assignment and stated that when she grew up, she wanted to be like her mom. "I told them I wanted to be a mom," she explained, "a teacher, and a ref like my mom."
Sarah was excited about her role in Super Bowl LV — and she knew exactly how historic it was.
"It's just so meaningful. I never set out to be the first in any of this, but knowing the impact that I'm having on not just my daughter but young girls everywhere, women everywhere, when I get on that field, and I take it all in, I know that I'm probably gonna get a little teary eyed. It's just remarkable, and I'm truly honored and humbled to be a part of this year's Super Bowl crew," she said.
Sarah, who's from Pascagoula, Miss., started officiating high school football games after she graduated from University of Mobile. She ended up joining Conference USA in 2007 and started to officiate college football until the NFL hired her in 2015. Since 2017, she's been working as a down judge. Sarah also used to be a pharmaceutical rep for Novo Nordisk.
Sarah told ABC News, “When I got started in this 17 years ago, I had no idea that there weren’t any females officiating. I never set out to become the first female official in the NFL. I’m just glad to be an official, wherever that may be, and just want to do the best job I can do."
She added, "I don’t feel that it’s been harder for me because I’m a female. I think that we are just out here working as officials. … I think just on our credentials, just as officials, I think that’s what moves us along, not because of our gender or our race."