
<p><strong>Topline</strong> The Super Bowl LV marked a historic moment for women in the National Football League when a record-breaking three women took to the field Sunday, the most women to ever be represented during a Super Bowl game.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h4>



<ul><li>Down judge Sarah Thomas is the first female referee to officiate a Super Bowl game.</li></ul>



<ul><li>It’s not Thomas’ first time breaking glass ceilings: she broke barriers officiating college football before becoming the NFL’s<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/07/sports/football/sarah-thomas-super-bowl-referee.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> first full-time female</a> referee in 2015, and was the first woman to officiate a playoff game four years later.</li></ul>



<ul><li>While last year’s Super Bowl saw the San Francisco 49ers’ assistant offensive coach <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/26/us/katie-sowers-super-bowl-spt-trnd/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Katie Sowers</a> become the first woman (and openly gay person) to coach a Super Bowl, this year marks another milestone: it’s the first Super Bowl that will feature two female coaches.</li></ul>



<ul><li>The Tampa Bay Buccaneers has two women on its coaching staff: <a href="https://www.buccaneers.com/team/coaches-roster/lori-locust" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lori Locust</a>, a defensive line assistant and assistant strength and conditioning coach <a href="https://www.buccaneers.com/team/coaches-roster/maral-javadifar" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Maral Javadifar</a>, who have both been with the team for two seasons.</li></ul>



<ul><li>&#8220;M.J. (Maral Javadifar) and I are here to help Tampa Bay win,&#8221; Locust said during <a href="https://www.buccaneers.com/news/bucs-making-history-with-lori-locust-maral-javadifar-super-bowl-lv-media" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a press conference</a> last week. &#8220;We acknowledge the fact that there hasn&#8217;t been many before us, but it&#8217;s not anything that we keep in the forefront of what we do on a daily basis.&#8221;</li></ul>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">History made ✔️<br><br>Sarah Thomas – the first woman to officiate in a Super Bowl. <a href="https://t.co/3PmND59iZ9">pic.twitter.com/3PmND59iZ9</a></p>&mdash; NFL Officiating (@NFLOfficiating) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFLOfficiating/status/1358555172746756103?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h4>



<p>2020 was a big year for women in traditionally male-dominated sports leagues. In November, Vanderbilt’s Sarah Fuller became the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/11/28/vanderbilts-sarah-fuller-makes-history-as-first-woman-to-play-in-power-5-conference-football-game/?sh=2401f4175a7e">first woman</a>&nbsp;to play during a Power 5 Conference college football game. The same month, the Miami Marlins announced the franchise would hire Kim Ngr, making her the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/11/13/miami-marlins-hire-kim-ng-mlbs-first-woman-and-asian-american-general-manager/?sh=65e54c06afcf">first female general manager</a>&nbsp;in Major League Baseball history. San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon made history unexpectedly in December when she became&nbsp;<a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30634955/becky-hammon-earned-head-coaching-shot-gregg-popovich-says" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the first woman</a>&nbsp;to serve as head coach during a regular-season NBA game when coach Gregg Popovich was ejected.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h4>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2021/02/07/youth-poet-laureate-amanda-gorman-is-performing-at-the-super-bowl---heres-what-her-poem-will-be-about/?sh=29b7134d563f">Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman Is Performing At The Super Bowl — Here’s What Her Poem Will Be About</a>&nbsp;(<em>Forbes</em>)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/07/sports/football/sarah-thomas-super-bowl-referee.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Who is Sarah Thomas? The First Female Referee at the Super Bowl</a> (<em>New York Times</em>)</p>



<p><em>By Carlie Porterfield, Forbes Staff</em></p>


Tag: Katies Sowers

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These Three Women Are Making Super Bowl History As The First Female Referee And Coaches