Recently, the NFL announced the hiring of 10 new on-field game officials for the upcoming 2022 season.
From the looks of the new group, it might be the most diverse group of officials hired at one time, and it’s also a history-making group as well.
This new group features Lo van Pham, who becomes the first Asian-American official in league history.
Born in Vietnam, Pham lived in the Philippines and moved to the United States at the age of seven.
Before being hired by the NFL as a side judge, he was an official in the Big XII conference.
Pham is joined by nine other members, including four Black men and Robin DeLorenzo, who is the third woman on the NFL’s on-field game officials roster. She joins Sarah Thomas and Maia Chaka.
In March of 2021, Chaka became the first Black woman official hired by the NFL. Her regular season game debut was even more historical as it occurred in the Jets vs. Panthers game last September.
That’s where Jets head coach Robert Saleh became the first Muslim American head coach in a regular season NFL game.
In addition, Chaka and Thomas previously made history when they officiated a Bowl game between Washington and BYU in 2014, becoming the first women to officiate an FBS Bowl game.
The league also previously announced the promotion of field/side judge Tra Blake to referee, replacing the retired Tony Corrente, and that Denise Crudup and Artenzia Young-Seigler became the first Black female replay officials.
The NFL’s push for diversity in the officiating ranks was bolstered by this new class.
Now we’re all waiting to see if it extends to the ownership ranks with the sale of the Denver Broncos.
