The National Football League broke new ground Wednesday by announcing it has hired the first full-time female official in league history.
Sarah Thomas has 19 years of experience and has worked in Conference USA at the collegiate level for the past eight years, according to NFL.com.
Thomas is one of nine new officials to join the league's staff.
"Our incoming officials have all demonstrated that they are among the best in college football," NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino said, reports NFL.com. "We are excited about having them join us."
Thomas, who works as a pharmaceutical sales rep, started her officiating career in 1996 before working her first varsity high school football game three years later.
She later became the first female official to work a college bowl game (2009), and in 2011 she became the first woman to officiate in a Big Ten stadium, according to the NFL.com story.
"I don't feel that it's been harder for me because I'm a female," Thomas said in a 2013 ABC News story. "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."
According to NFL.com, Thomas has done work with the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, and the Indianapolis Colts during minicamp, but she has never worked in the NFL on a full-time basis.
The NFL has dealt with an image crisis in recent years, largely stemming from off-field problems players are having. Former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, for example, was suspended indefinitely last year when a video emerged that showed him punching his then-fiancee in the head, knocking her unconscious in a casino elevator.
Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was suspended indefinitely last fall for physically abusing his 4-year-old son, although he later won an appeal and could return to playing.
Several other cases involving abuse, weapons, and drugs have also plagued the NFL.
And there's also a growing trend of parents not allowing their kids to play football over safety concerns. San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland took that a step further, announcing his retirement from the league last month after his rookie season.
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