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Sarah Thomas & Walt Coleman IV Among Nine First-Year NFL Officials
The NFL’s roster of game officials for the 2015 season will include nine first-year NFL officials.
The nine are graduates of the NFL Officiating Development program, which trains top college football officials in all aspects of NFL officiating. They will be on the field at upcoming organized team activities.
Sarah Thomas will join the NFL as a line judge after officiating in Conference USA since 2007. Thomas is the first woman to be assigned full-time to an NFL officiating crew and will be the second to officiate in a regular-season NFL game. Shannon Eastin, an official in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, served as a line judge for the first three games in 2012.
Also included among the nine is side judge Walt Coleman IV, the son of the dean of NFL officials, referee Walt Coleman, who will enter his 27th season in 2015. Coleman and Coleman IV will become the third active father-son officiating duo, joining Ed and Shawn Hochuli and Steve and Brad Freeman.
“Our incoming officials have all demonstrated that they are among the best in college football,” said NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino. “We are excited about having them join us.”
The nine first-year NFL officials:
|
Uniform No. |
Name |
Position |
College |
2014 College Conference |
|
16 |
Kevin Codey |
LJ |
Western New England |
AAC |
|
87 |
Walt Coleman IV |
SJ |
Southern Methodist |
Big 12 |
|
94 |
Hugo Cruz |
HL |
Texas-Pan American |
C-USA |
|
2 |
Bart Longson |
HL |
Brigham Young |
PAC-12 |
|
19 |
Clay Martin |
U |
Tulsa |
C-USA |
|
50 |
Aaron Santi |
SJ |
Southern Oregon |
PAC-12 |
|
14 |
Shawn Smith |
FJ |
Ferris State |
BIG 10 |
|
53 |
Sarah Thomas |
LJ |
University of Mobile |
C-USA |
|
26 |
Jabir Walker |
SJ |
Murray State |
SEC |
The complete 2015 NFL roster of officials, including crew assignments, will be announced in May.
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