Who is the female college football referee working Ohio State-Penn State game?

Amanda Sauer, Big Ten. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Amanda Sauer, Big Ten. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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Amanda Sauer is the female college football referee that is working the Big Ten game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The female college football referee working the Big Ten game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Ohio State Buckeyes is Amanda Sauer.

Sauer got her start in officiating in 2011 after watching a high school football game in Pennsylvania with her late husband. The bad calls on the field were a driving impetus toward her pursuing her newfound passion. Six years later, she was working the Ohio State spring game. She used to be an official in the AAF but has since been working more games in the Big Ten.

Sauer is also the first openly bi referee in professional football after she remarried after the death of her husband.

Referee Amanda Sauer is making history in college football

While Sauer’s ultimate goal is to officiate in the NFL, she is really making a name for herself as an official in the Big Ten. This is one of the most important conferences in all of college athletics and there are fewer games in Big Ten play as big as whenever East division rivals Ohio State and Penn State clash on the gridiron on a fall Saturday.

What Sauer’s story shows us is that it is worth it to follow your passion, no matter how late of a start you have in doing so. If you are willing to put in the work and make huge personal and financial sacrifices along the way, anything is possible.

Here is to Sauer inspiring a generation to chase any passion they may have, officiating or not.

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