CLEVELAND — Even before the opening kickoff, the Cleveland Browns and Washington Football Team made history on Sunday.
With Callie Brownson serving as Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski's chief of staff, Jennifer King working with Washington and NFL official Sarah Thomas calling the game, Sunday's matchup between Cleveland and Washington marked the first game in NFL history with a female coach on each sideline with a female official calling the game.
Thomas became the first female full-time official in NFL history in 2015, while Brownson and King were each hired by their respective teams earlier this year.
Speaking to 3News' Jim Donovan in February, Brownson -- who previously worked as an intern with the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills and as an offensive quality control coach at Dartmouth -- discussed the increased presence of females in professional football.
"It's an awesome thing to see," Brownson said. "I'm going to come in contact with hundreds of people in my time here...I'm going to leave a good impression on them, and in a couple of years when they go to another organization, they're going to be able to say, 'We had a female as a part of our organization. It was a really good thing.' That's going to be this branch effect that happens."