NFL To Use First Female Referee
An ongoing labor dispute between the league and its regular officials has left an opening for Shannon Eastin's historic debut.
| Posted Monday, Aug. 6, 2012, at 3:26 PM
Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images.
A female referee will be part of the officiating crew for Thursday night's preseason matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the San Diego Chargers, marking the first time a woman will ref an NFL game in the league's 92-year history.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Shannon Eastin will join an officiating crew that was thrown together to replace the NFL's regular officials, who are locked in an ongoing salary dispute with the league.
Not much is out there on Eastin, but she hails from Arizona and has previously officiated football at high schools and in small-college conferences.
Though the exhibition game will likely have little effect on the NFL season, several outlets note that another replacement crew stumbled through Sunday’s Hall of Fame game, meaning that Thursday's fill-ins would have likely been under the microscope even if the crew didn't include the league's first female ref.
