http://mmqb.si.com/2015/07/07/sarah-thomas-first-female-official-amy-trask-nfl-the-mmqb-100/
John Froschauer/AP
No. 19: Sarah Thomas
This fall, Sarah Thomas will become the first woman to officiate an NFL regular season game. Amy Trask, the first female CEO in NFL history, looks back at her time in the league and projects what Thomas will face this season
Editor’s note: This is part of our summer series, The MMQB 100, counting down the most influential people for the 2015 season.
By Amy Trask
I have never met Sarah Thomas but I appreciate the significance of her achievement. When Sarah Thomas takes the field as an official at the start of the 2015 season, she will be the first woman to do so (other than in a temporary, replacement capacity) in the National Football League. I congratulate her and I wish her the very best for continued success.
I also hope that Sarah Thomas is booed.
When Sarah Thomas throws a flag she shouldn’t have thrown—which she will, as all officials do—she should be booed. When Sarah Thomas fails to throw a flag she should have—which she will, as all officials do—she should be booed. Sarah Thomas should be booed as loudly and as resoundingly as her male colleagues are booed.
Gender equality means gender equality. And if gender equality is the expectation, all consequences that flow therefrom must be accepted, whether one likes them or not.
When Sarah Thomas takes the field, she should do so without regard to gender. If one wants to be considered without regard to gender, then one should not consider one’s gender. Since I do not know Sarah Thomas, I do not know whether our views on these issues are similar. My hunch, though, is that Sarah Thomas has comported herself without regard to gender throughout her career.
It makes no sense to undertake one’s responsibilities—on the field, in an owner’s meeting, in a boardroom, as a physician, as a judge, as an astronaut, as a farmer, in the military, or otherwise—with any thought given to one’s gender. How can a woman hope (or insist, or
demand) that she be considered and treated without regard to gender, while giving thought to her gender?
Might Sarah Thomas encounter some gender-based resistance? Of course.
My experience suggests she will not encounter any such resistance from Pete Morelli, the head of her officiating crew. I never encountered anything I believed to be gender-based resistance during any of my interactions with Pete or with any other officials. I never sensed that Pete or any other officials treated me any differently than they treated my male counterparts. (Some of them did not like my shouting and swearing—but to the extent they objected to it, I do not believe they did so because I was a woman.)
My experience suggests that she will not encounter any such resistance from players. I never encountered anything I believed to be gender-based resistance during any of my interactions with players (Raiders or otherwise). I never sensed that players treated me any differently than my male counterparts. Some of them did not agree with me on some substantive matters, but to the extent they disagreed with me, I do not believe they did so because I was a woman.
But might Sarah Thomas encounter some gender-based resistance from others? Of course. What do I believe she should do if she does? Her job. Sarah Thomas’s best response to any such resistance is to do her job and to be the best official she can be. Time, effort and energy spent thinking about, concerning oneself with, focusing on or addressing such resistance is time, effort and energy wasted. Let those who are bothered by Sarah Thomas’s gender waste their time, effort and energy on that.
Might Sarah Thomas be tested because she is a woman? Of course. I have been asked if I believe that I was tested during my career in the NFL because I am a woman. Maybe I was. I never thought about it. Of course, the best response when one is tested is to pass the test. Sarah Thomas’s time, effort and energy is best spent focusing on any test she faces, whether she is tested for gender-related reasons or otherwise.
Might there be obnoxious and offensive gender-related comments that are shouted from the stands? Absolutely. Who cares?
I heard an occasional obnoxious or offensive remark shouted at me on game day—most often in an opposing team’s stadium. One time—just one time—when I heard something lewd shouted about my anatomy while I stood on the sideline before a game, I turned around and looked at the person who shouted it. He was about 10. I laughed aloud and with a smile said to the man I believed to be his father: “You must be quite proud.” He put his arm around the young boy as he told me that he was. I again laughed and walked away.
I learned a lesson though: Don’t turn around. From that point forward, I made an effort not to look, no matter what was shouted. I didn’t always succeed; sometimes, I looked. But the point is this: I did not want to waste one more moment of my time or expend any effort or energy on such things. My guess is that Sarah Thomas learned a long time ago not to turn around, not to look at or engage with people shouting such things.
After all, she was a high school official, a college official, she officiated a bowl game and she officiated in the United Football League, including a championship game. So yes, she may well have decided long ago not to listen and not to engage—even if the person shouting at her was a 10 year old (perhaps especially then).
That incident with the young fan and his father was an aberration. It was my experience that most fans accepted me without regard to my gender. I am hopeful that will be the case for Sarah Thomas too.
While there will be some people who will not like that a woman is officiating in the NFL, and while there will be some who shout gender-related comments towards the field, there may also be little girls and young women who take note of what Sarah Thomas has achieved and conclude that they too can achieve their dreams.
If you boo officials, then go ahead and boo Sarah Thomas. She is an official in the National Football League; it goes with the job she has earned.
Amy Trask served as CEO of the Oakland Raiders from 1997 to 2013, the first female chief executive in NFL history. She is currently an analyst for CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network. Her memoir, You Negotiate Like a Girl
, is due out in September 2016.
