NFL reaches a milestone for women in officiating

Football Zebras exclusive

There may not be any impact on the playoffs from the Saints-Giants game today, but it is a historic game before it even kicks off.

There are currently three women on the officiating staff on-field. This will be the first time that two of them worked together in the same game.

One of the officials who rotates among the crews — designated as a “swing official” — will take the place of line judge Robin DeLorenzo on the crew of referee Carl Cheffers. DeLorenzo is assigned to Clete Blakeman’s crew this weekend at the Meadowlands, essentially a “home” game for the New Jersey official.

Field judge Karina Tovar has been on Blakeman’s crew at the field judge position in this (her rookie) season. The way the positions are aligned, DeLorenzo and Tovar will work the same sideline during the game, with the former starting at the line of scrimmage and the latter working deep downfield.

There have been instances where the replay official was a woman, while another woman was in stripes. Sarah Thomas, the first female official hired to the permanent staff, worked as the down judge in 2020 when replay official Terri Valenti worked the replay booth. (Due to covid protocols, the replay staff were not assigned to specific crews.)

Before Tovar arrived to the NFL, it was difficult to get more than one woman on a game, because every one up to that point was a line-of-scrimmage official. Tovar is the first woman who is a deep official.

Once the pregame photo-ops have been completed, both DeLorenzo and Tovar will quickly shift into game mode as if there’s nothing different.