The regular NFL officials have been locked out by the league.
Eastin is a college referee who has worked in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, in which Norfolk State and Hampton compete. She is one of the replacement officials hired by the NFL and has 16 years of experience.
A resident of Tempe, Arizona, Eastin also has won six national judo championships. She was the youngest judo athlete ever to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, doing so when she was 11.
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Female ref to work NFL preseason game
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin — For the first time in league history, a female referee will officiate an NFL game Thursday night. Shannon Eastin, a referee from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, will wear the officiating stripes when the Green Bay Packers travel to San Diego to play the Chargers for each team's preseason opener.
When that news hit the Packers' locker room Monday afternoon, the players were surprised but supportive that a female would be given such an opportunity.
"Female, male, dog, cat, as long as they're calling the right calls and they know what they're doing out there, it really doesn't matter," tight end Jermichael Finley told FOXSportsWisconsin.com in an exclusive interview. "It's a person. She'll see the same things as a man. She knows how to blow the whistle the same way. "It's going to be something weird to see, but you deal with it and just roll."
With the league and NFL Referees Association currently in contract negotiations, the NFL has been training replacements since June.
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