NFL to use female official for first time

Who says NFL exhibition games are meaningless?

For the first time, a woman will work an NFL game as part of the officiating crew. Shannon Eastin will be part of the replacement crew officiating Thursday’s Green Bay-at-San Diego game.

Eastin, who’s from Arizona, has been a referee for several high school and small-college conferences.

The NFL and its regular officials have yet to agree on a new collective-bargaining agreement. Those officials were locked out in June.

It’s the first such labor meltdown since 2001, when a contract dispute led to the officials missing the last exhibition game and first regular-season game.

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