You may be hearing the name Sarah Thomas a lot in the near future, especially if you are a football referee, or follow the NFL. Thomas is one of 21 finalists in the NFL’s officiating development program, and could become the NFL’s first full-time female ref. She is a 16 year vet of every level of organized football – elementary school, high school, college, and sources say she has an excellent shot of making the cut this year.

She almost WASN’T the first female to be considered for a full-time referee gig in the NFL. If you recall, last year Shannon Eastin was hired to ref a preseason and a regular-season game during the early season strike, but couldn’t be hired permanently because of a conflict with her involvement in the World Series of Poker. None-the-less, the winds of change in the NFL have been blowing (actually howling) quite fiercely as of late, with various rule changes made to cut down on player injuries.

So given the ever-changing environment that is the modern day NFL, the news of Thomas’ new employment opportunity should come as no surprise (NBA fans know that the league has employed female refs since the late 90’s). And most fans will take a good, knowledgeable female ref over most of the inept replacement male refs we saw at the start of last season any day of the week (and twice on NFL Sunday!)

So is it time for ladies to wear the zebra shirts on the gridiron? Take the poll below and let us know what you think.