How Many Female Referees Are In the NFL
Being an NFL official is a tough job. And now there are ladies joining the officiating ranks. So you may wonder how many female referees are in the NFL? It’s definitely more than one. But we’ll get to that in a minute. First it would be good to list some basic facts about NFL officiating.
We tend to refer to any NFL official as the referee. However, there is only one referee along with six other NFL officials. They are the umpire, down judge, line judge, field judge, side judge, and back judge. Each one is assigned to monitor a specific part of the field.
They each have various but specific responsibilities such as reviewing players’ equipment, counting offensive players on the field, and keeping track of the game clock. In addition, there are things they have to watch for on all run plays, pass plays, and special teams.
Clearly the NFL officials have a heavy load to bear. And since no one is perfect they will make mistakes. However, they are professionals with years of experience. The last thing they want to do is blow calls or miss calls. Which is why gender doesn’t matter when it comes to officiating. If a person knows the rules and what to look for then a man or a woman can do the job.
So to get back to the question at hand, there are three women who are officiating in the NFL. Sarah Thomas became the first female official in 2015. This season she is a down judge and her official number is 53. In 2021, Maia Chakra became the second female official and the first black woman to join the ranks. She is a line judge and her official number is 100.
How Many Female Referees Are In the NFL
Joining the party in 2022 was Robin DeLorenzo. She brought with her experience in officiating Big Ten Conference college football games. This season she is working as a line judge and her official number is 134.
We all want to see the games officiated correctly. But that won’t ever happen so just remember this quote:
“We’re going to strive for perfection, but we’re not going to get it — I know from experience,” said Art McNally, Pro Football Hall of Famer. “I have never seen a perfectly officiated football game. But our officials are the finest group of officials in the country, and I’d put them up against anybody.”
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