Sarah Thomas, fresh off the heels of becoming the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s first female official to referee in a major collegiate bowl game, has now become the first female referee in the history of the NFL. Thomas began as a high school football referee in 1999 and has worked her way through the ranks ever since.

“I think that she is an inspiration to those girls out there whose dreams are to be treated equally,” first-year Connie J. Miranda said. “But I also believe this is not only about gender or race equality, but about chasing your dreams … Ms. Thomas never gave up on her dreams and she is now part of history.”

Some question whether the league might be making this move in an effort to soothe the public relations catastrophe the NFL has suffered over the past year. In 2015 alone there have already been three NFL players arrested for domestic violence, after Ray Rice, Greg Hardy and Adrian Peterson made headlines for domestic violence charges in 2014.

“I don’t see the NFL hiring someone just because they have to,” Miranda said. “What I see is the NFL hiring someone who is a qualified professional capable of fulfilling her duties as a referee.”

Information from this article was taken from nfl.com