![]() ![]() But I think the biggest thing was prior to the kids actually returning, was just seeing their reactions." "Today was the first day the students are actually back in school than they saw me, so it was just like pandemonium a little bit," Chaka explained. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)Ĭhaka, who is a health and PE teacher at Renaissance Academy in Virginia Beach, said her students are very excited, told her she was "hashtag famous" and asked for her autograph. "I ran around my house, did a couple laps, you know, around the crib and then came back and picked up the phone and had a conversation like a big girl."Ĭharles Krupa/AP Head linesman Maia Chaka makes a call during the second half of an NFL preseason football game between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, Friday, Aug. I jumped up, I threw everything up in the air," she said. Welcome to the National Football League, Maya Shaka, line of scrimmage official," Chaka recalled Mackie saying.Ĭhaka, who is a native of Rochester, New York, said she was ecstatic. "And, I mean, I went nuts."īut Chaka was in such disbelief she said that she at first wondered if she was being punked. "And he tells me, 'Well, you're gonna have a lot of work ahead of you, because welcome to the National Football League,'" Chaka recalled. I said, 'Yeah, we're still on.' And he tells me, 'Well, you have a lot of work ahead of you."Ĭhaka said she was stumped and asked Mackie what he meant. "So I pick up the phone, and he says, 'Maia, we still on for our meeting on Wednesday?' He's referring to our film review session when they're going to go over my performance in the Senior Bowl. I noticed it's a you know, Wayne Mackie, the VP of Officiating, who I had a prior relationship with you know as a mentor-mentee."Ĭhaka said she thought Mackie was calling to discuss "some film or to shoot me a play, like, which really isn't out of the ordinary." "I was just hanging out, you know, in my house and phone rings around 9:15 p.m. "So it was very shocking and I wasn't expecting it at all," Chaka said. Maia Chaka, the first Black woman hired by the NFL to serve as a full-time on-field official, said she was surprised and overjoyed when she learned she got the job. ![]()
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