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History is always great isn’t it? On Sunday, Maia Chaka became the first black woman to officiate an NFL game when she was a line judge for the Carolina Panthers and New York Jets match.
A graduate of Norfolk State University, Chaka was a teacher at Virginia Beach and now is a fully fledged NFL referee. She took charge on Sunday, six months after she was promoted to full-time referee by the NFL.
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Maia Chaka creates NFL history
Despite the incredible feat, Chaka is not the first woman to officiate in the NFL, however, with Sarah Thomas becoming an NFL official back in 2015 and officiating in last year's Super Bowl.
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Before her first ever match, the NFL shared a video in which Chaka spoke about the journey that led her to where she is today.
“When I step on the field for the first time as an NFL official, it’s gonna be a proud moment,” Chaka said. “It’s a proud moment for myself, it’s a proud moment for my family. It’s a proud moment for my community and my students and my co-workers.”
“This historic moment to me is an honor and it’s a privilege that I’ve been chosen to represent women and women of color in the most popular sport in America, proving that I can defy the odds and overcome and pretty much master a craft of a sport that I didn’t really play,” Chaka said.
“But I have a love and passion for, and hopefully that just gives someone else some inspiration and empowers them to step outside the box and do something different. I’m just in awe and I can’t wait for that opening kickoff.”
Chaka had been a teacher for public schools with Virginia Beach for over ten years but before that she taught physical education and health at Renaissance Academy.
Her refereeing journey reportedly started when she was a referee for several high school games in Hampton Roads before slowly making her way up the football ladder to then officiate college football games in Conference USA and the Pac-12.
Both Chaka and Thomas officiated a Football Bowl subdivision game in 2014 and Chaka slowly made her way through the NFL’s Officiating Development Program, and in March of this year, all her hard work was rewarded as she was promoted to become a full-time NFL official.
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