It is a testament to Sarah Thomas’ mettle that she didn’t dwell upon the pressures of her position as the first full-time game official in the NFL, at least until her first season on the job came to an end. People who were expecting Thomas’ presence to drastically affect the NFL spread were probably disappointed by the uneventful nature of her first season.

It was after the season ended that Thomas began to ponder on what her achievements have meant for the game. Thomas admitted that, while she didn’t feel the pressure during the actual season, upon reflecting on the season as a whole, she had to admit there was indeed some pressure to contend against.

None the less, even considering her place as the first women in the game in such a capacity, Thomas believes that her first year was very smooth. In fact, as her second year as a side judge approaches, Thomas appreciates the fact that there was very little fanfare about the fact that she is the only woman on the field.

Dean Blandino, Vice President of officiating, thinks that Thomas handled the whole situation with grace and poise. As a first year official and a woman, Thomas had a lot of challenges to contend with on her plate. That she had such a good season is commendable.

Thomas had the privilege of signaling the touchdown when Pittsburgh’s LeVeon Bell scored on a wildcat run as time expired, bringing his team victory at the end of Week 5 last season.

While seemingly initially stopped, Bell pushed forward, getting the ball across the goal line, and the replay review justified Thomas’ call. There is no telling the ruckus that would have been raised if the first female official in the NFL had blown such a call.

In this case, though, no one really took notice of her presence. And that is what Thomas wants. Officials want to go unseen, and they are at their best when they go unnoticed, achieving their objectives under the radar.

Thomas received a vote of confidence from the NFL commissioner during the first NFL Women’s Summit in San Francisco, Roger Goodell appreciating Thomas for her fantastic job.

The mother of three has spent a number of years working inside the NFL system. Along with officiating for Conference USA since 2007, Thomas has also worked at various training camps and exhibition games.

She spent some time in the NFL’s Officiating Development Program before she was hired full-time last year.

Sarah Thomas didn’t set out to make waves and change perceptions as the first female official on the field in the NFL. None the less, she is encouraged by the support she has received from women’s groups.

She also finds questions from other women looking to emulate her career choice endearing. Thomas has also repeatedly expressed her appreciation for all the support and respect the National Football League has shown her, giving her the room to explore her potential.

Blandino doesn’t think that Thomas will be the last of her kind and has admitted that there are many more women progressing through the NFL’s officiating development program.

He thinks the fans should expect to see more women peppering the game in the near future. He also thinks that the direction the NFL is taking is very positive and should be supported by the football fandom.

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This week, I rank the Power Five schools having the easiest rosters in major college football. To clarify, no team has an easy schedule irrespective of the conference it plays in and college football predictions indicate that challenges can arise even when playing against the “weakest” teams. Some diverse factors played a significant role in the conclusions I made, such as the 2015 records of the playing teams, the nonconference schedules, and the venues of the upcoming games. For teams playing division-based conferences, they must face all the teams within their respective divisions. The challenges come up with the teams they will have to play against from the other side, the strength of opponents at their home stadium, and the frequency of playing against them.

With all the above factors taken into consideration in the preparation of this list, five teams from the Power Five emerged with the least difficult schedules.

5. Florida
A number of tough games are lined up for the Gators this season, but one of their major threats will be playing Florida State on the road in the concluding week. They also play Georgia in Jacksonville and LSU in Gainesville, with the Gator’s visit to Knoxville an important head-to-head for the SEC East. The nonconference slate is the main factor that lists the Gators here, including their games against South Carolina, Missouri, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. They will have a home advantage with their remaining games against Presbyterian, North Texas, and UMass. Last season, Florida’s opponents had a combined winning percentage of 46.9 percent, with only five of them bowling.

4. Minnesota
It is very difficult for a Big Ten East team to appear in this list compared to a Big Ten West team because only some teams in the West have to contend with beating Michigan, Michigan State, or Ohio State. The Gophers automatically landed here due to such factors. With the Big Ten conference having nine games this season, the ratio of home and road games for the West is four to five respectively, which will haunt Minnesota. However, they appear in this list because they dodge all the powerful teams from the East to play Rutgers, Maryland, and Penn State. In the nonconference, Minnesota plays against Indiana State, Colorado State, and Oregon State, all at home. The Beavers, Colorado State, and the Sycamores had a 2-10, 7-6, and 5-6 in last season. The team holds a higher position here because they play against Penn State, Wisconsin, and Nebraska on the road.

3. Baylor
In a twist of fate, the nonconference schedule for Baylor in 2016 looks so weak, and this comes as a surprise. The opening game will be against last season’s 4-7 Northwestern State team, followed by a 2-10 SMU, and finally a road trip game against a 5-7 Rice. Surviving this gauntlet will lead them straight to conference play. The advantage that Baylor has is that the team plays at home against TCU, but on the road against Oklahoma State. Furthermore, the Bears stay at No. 3 because of the stretch of games they will have to play in mid-season. In three weeks, they will visit Texas, return home to play TCU, and finally play Oklahoma on the road.

2. Clemson
Surprisingly, Clemson stands out as one of the favorites to find their way to the College Football Playoff, and they have Deshaun Watson as the favorite to clinch the Heisman Trophy. In the season’s first Saturday, the Tigers face Auburn on the road in their nonconference schedule, with the rest including Troy and last season’s 3-9 South Carolina. Furthermore, the Tigers had the entire offseason to get ready for their toughest games against Auburn, Florida State, and Louisville. Generally, Clemson the Tigers only have five opponents that reached the bowl game last season.

1. Boston College
If you are a fan of Boston College, you must be upset because I placed your favorite team as the one with the easiest schedules next season. For the unmoved and happy fans, you should acknowledge that your last season’s 3-9 team was not up to standard last season, having an average of 17.2 points per game. Therefore, the easy schedule gives the Eagles an opportunity to rejuvenate themselves, as they have UConn, Buffalo, Wagner, and UMass (combined to go 14-23) in the nonconference. However, they must show their toughness against teams in the Conference play, including Florida State on the road. The Eagle’s five-game road schedule includes NC State, Wake Forest, UMass, and Virginia Tech, UMass’ obvious wins.

Congratulations to Boston College for having a fairly easy schedule this season!

Miramar, FL – May 20, 2016 – GridironStuds.com, a diviision of CEW Communications announced Friday that they will be launching a crowd funding campaign on Monday May 23, 2016 through well respected business funding site IndieGoGo.com. IndieGoGo was founded in 2008 and through their online community has raised over $900 million dollars in funds for start-up businesses worldwide.

GridironStuds is attempting to raise $50,000 to assist in programming, marketing and hiring of personnel to push the GridironStuds App into the college football recruiting market. The company plans on rolling out a number of exciting features in the app in the coming months. They are also plannning on launching an android version of the app prior to close of 2016. “We are excited about joining IndieGoGo to launch this crowd funding campaign. They are recognized as one of the leaders in the business of crowd funding and have great tools for both the funders and fundees,” CEW Communications CEO Chad Wilson said. “This is a great way for any parent of an athlete, fan of college football and corporation interested in reaching this demographic to help us develop this wonderful app for young student athletes,” Wilson added.

Close to 800 high school football players from across the country have downloaded the GridironStuds App since it’s launch in February. The company’s goal is to have over 2,500 prospects on the app by the close of the 4th quarter of 2016. GridironStuds will be offering several perks to supporters of their crowd funding campaign which will involve memberships and access to fan features of the GridironStuds App. They are also offering business sponsorship perks to corporations aiding them in their IndieGoGo campaign.

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For more information, contact CEW Communications CEO Chad Wilson at (954) 243-4051 or email Mr. Wilson at cwilson@gridironstuds.com.

GridironStuds.con is a college football recruiting website designed to assist high school football players in obtaining scholarships, college football programs in finding prospects and college football fans in getting up to the minute information on the recruiting progress of the prospects their favorite schools are recruiting.