The call came from one retired NFL game official to another. Joe Haynes, who had moved on to scouting officiating prospects, phoned Gerry Austin, then coordinator of officials for Conference USA.

“Gerry,” Haynes said, “I’ve got a high school official down here in Mississippi that you need to take a look at, somebody who’s ready for college football.”

“What’s his name?” Austin recalled asking.

“His name is Sarah.”

In a career overwhelmingly dominated by men, line judge Sarah Thomas stood out back in 2006 —and she is on the brink of history as the first woman chosen by the NFL to be a regular game official.

NFL spokesman Michael Signora would not confirm the hiring of Thomas and said the league has yet to finalize its roster of 2015 officials.

However, an individual with knowledge of the situation said people within the league have been informed that Thomas is among eight new officials offered jobs for the 2015 season, pending physical examinations.

“I’ll be very proud to see Sarah in the NFL,” said Austin, who worked as an NFL official from 1982 through 2007. “To me, the biggest thing is, do you understand the spirit of the rules, and not just the rules? She has that understanding, and that’s impressed me as much as anything.”

The selection of Thomas comes against the backdrop of the NFL’s most tumultuous year, when the league’s handling of violence against women put the NFL under unprecedented scrutiny. In September, Commissioner Roger Goodell hired four domestic violence experts, all women, to help shape the league’s policies going forward.

The NFL had been tracking Thomas’ progress as a college official for several years, and in last year’s preseason, she officiated at practices for the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts.

“There’s not a single official in the NFL that’s surprised by this,” said Mike Pereira, the NFL’s former director of officials who is now an analyst for Fox. “They knew it was coming. I was almost surprised it didn’t happen last year.”

Thomas will not be the first female official to work a regular-season NFL game. Shannon Eastin made history in September 2012 when she was a line judge in Detroit’s game at St. Louis. Pereira and others do not see that as a milestone moment because Eastin was a replacement who filled in after regular officials were locked out over a contract dispute.