2015
This week the NFL made history by naming Sarah Thomas the organization’s first full-time female referee. While some suggest Thomas’ appointment is an attempt to mitigate negative publicity surrounding recent NFL-related domestic violence incidents, Thomas points to her extensive resume and comes with the support of some of the league’s most prominent coaches:
“I’ve been an official for almost twenty years. This hasn’t been an overnight sensation,” she says.
Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh was among those publicly supporting Thomas at a press conference on Wednesday.
“We had her in the preseason last year, and she did a good job. She’s got to be one of the better [refs] we have,” he said. “It’s about time. Get these guys straightened out a little bit, get these gals in there. She’s a good ref, so it was a good choice.”
1940
Even though a 1934 meeting of the American Physical Education Association suggested girls who got involved with football were endangering their health, the fairer sex has always had an interest in throwing around the pigskin. In 1940, Click Magazine featured a group of Los Angeles-area women who took to the field to score more than compliments:
Anything can and does happen in California, the proving ground for all sorts of fads and fancies. The latest craze sweeping the land of Ham-and-Eggers is girls’ football. Discarding their all-revealing bathing suits, Hollywood and Los Angeles lassies have taken to padded moleskins, hip pads, shoulder pads, head hears and rubber-cleated brogans. The transition from beach nymph to gridiron amazon is called a revolution against “oomph.”
Regardless of what feminists say, powder puff football seems destined to stay. The girls play hard, fast and for keeps. They suffer bumps, bruises, bloody noses and scratches, but they always come up for more. By the next fall the lassies expect to have leagues operating throughout the country.