Miss. Senator honors first female Super Bowl ref on Senate floor

Miss. Senator honors first female Super Bowl ref on Senate floor
Down judge Sarah Thomas keeps watch during the second half of an NFL football game between the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Football Team, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard) (Source: David Richard)
By Jacob Gallant | February 4, 2021 at 5:23 PM CST - Updated February 5 at 9:16 AM

WASHINGTON (WLBT) - U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) honored Mississippi native Sarah Thomas ahead of her Super Bowl appearance.

Thomas, a Mississippi native, will be the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl this weekend.

Hyde-Smith dedicated a few minutes to speak on Thomas’s accomplishments.

“My state of Mississippi is extremely proud of Sarah Thomas, and we look forward to watching her latest history-making appearance at the Super Bowl,” she said.

Thomas is from Pascagoula. She was hired in 2007 to work college games and eventually became the first woman to work a college bowl game.

Thomas is in her 6th season with the NFL after becoming the first full-time official back in 2015. In 2019, she became the first woman to officiate a playoff game.

Copyright 2021 WLBT. All rights reserved.