First Female NFL Referee Set to Officiate Game

History will be made this Thursday when Shannon Eastin becomes the first female referee to officiate an NFL game. Eastin will be on the crew officiating this Thursday’s Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers preseason opener.

This story has two angles to it. The most obvious of which is this is a milestone in Women’s rights and the progression of women in what is viewed as a male dominated world. But it’s also another game that will have replacements referees and with that comes a fear that the game will lose it’s competitive edge.

The more ignorant (and usually drunk) fans will take an extra objection to the fact a woman is in in a position to change the momentum of a game with a call/non-call.

But intelligent fans will see this for what it is, the NFL finally coming into the 21st century. It took until women could marry each other and not have it raise eyebrows until the NFL allowed women to have a say in their game but this is a historic occasion. Women earned the right to vote almost 100 years ago but they still can’t mingle with men in a professional manner when it comes to sports.

Roger Goodell, love him or hate him, is doing something insanely progressive here. We tell women that they can be anything they want — unless it has something to do with professional male sports in a manner that is not behind the scenes. Goodell has balled up the rule and tossed it and detractors will claim he’s hiding behind history to evade the issue of nonpaying real refs, he’s still doing something that has never been done before.

So if you want to take that away from this situation, that’s your call. But the bottom line is a woman will be on an NFL field during a game and will be in a position of authority. And it”s about damn time.