Sarah Thomas made sacrifices on way to becoming the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl, including missing her daughter's first steps
- Sarah Thomas made history as the first woman in NFL history to officiate a Super Bowl.
- The NFL official and mother of three admitted that she had "to sacrifice a lot" to reach this point.
- In an interview on NBC's "TODAY," Thomas revealed that she even missed her daughter's first steps.
Sarah Thomas made history as the first woman in NFL history to officiate a Super Bowl.
But as she said on NBC News' "TODAY" Wednesday morning, making history takes "a lot of hard work" and a willingness "to sacrifice a lot."
Thomas spent many years working her way up the ranks, becoming the first woman to officiate a major college football game, an NCAA bowl game, and an NFL playoff game before arriving at Super Bowl LV. That long and winding journey came with some serious compromises.
She even missed her daughter's first steps, Thomas revealed to "TODAY" co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.
"I missed Bailey's first steps," Thomas said. "I was, like, hopefully she'll take a lot more."
"It's just a dedication," she added.
The 47-year-old mother of three added that she thinks her daughter is "pretty proud" of her mom - who broke one of seven Guinness World Records set at this year's Super Bowl. Bailey, now 5 years old, even wrote a special note to Thomas before she took the field Sunday night.
"Dear Momma," the letter, scrawled in pink marker, reads. "I hope you had a good trip there. I love you so much. So proud of you."
Even with her latest glass ceiling-shattering achievement, Thomas acknowledges that she's still just mom to her three kids.
"But again, you both know, being moms, I'm the one that disciplines them," Thomas said. "You know, like, get your homework done. Get your teeth brushed. You know, all of the above. The older boys, you know, give me your cell phone or give me your keys. It's just - I'm their mom, but they are very proud."
"And it was so meaningful to have them all there for this moment," she added.
Bailey even made a surprise appearance at the end of the interview, waving to Guthrie and Kotb before she and her mom signed off.
Check out Thomas' full interview - and Bailey's cameo - from Wednesday's "TODAY" below: