Exploring Art Memphis Deejay Ron Olson

Thomas says. “I literally called it a hobby. I loved doing it. But then my competitive juices started flowing, and I thought this was a way I could give back to the community, to stay involved in organized sports, and it was a challenge to me because I didn’t play the game of football. And I fell in love with it.” In 2006, Thomas joined the Conference USA officiating staff, and, in 2010, became the first woman to officiate a major college football game. In 2009, she became the first woman to officiate a college bowl game. Although these firsts were notable, they were not on Thomas’ to-do list. “Whenever you’re in football, wherever you are officiating, you want to stay focused on that,” she says. “You don’t want to get too far ahead of yourself. I learned that when I got hired into Conference USA. Somebody asked me one time in an interview, and, it’s a stupid remark, I said I wanted to be the first female in the NFL. An idiotic statement. Because then I worked my first game in Conference USA where you have a video of yourself afterward. And I went, ‘You know what? I need to focus on being the best I can be whenever I’m working for Conference USA.’” That focus led to more firsts for Thomas. In 2011, she became the first woman to officiate in a Big Ten stadium. In 2015, she was named the first permanent female official in the NFL. In 2019, she was the first female official to work an NFL playoff game. And on Feb. 7, 2021, Thomas became the first female official to work the Super Bowl. While some may see her accomplishment as prophetic based on her earlier comment, Thomas knows it was the result of hard work. “I have a job to do,” she says. “I never ever set out to be the first. I say this wholeheartedly, that I just pray for the day that my daughter doesn’t have to grow up and say, ‘Can girls do that?’ They’ll have already seen it done. When those firsts first happened, some of them I didn’t even know were a first. I just knew I had a job to do. When they called me about the Super Bowl, all my friends and family were just stoked. And they were like, ‘Sarah, you’re so somber.’ And I was like, ‘I have a job to do. Once it’s over, then I’ll be able to celebrate.’” And celebrate Thomas did. She did all she could to take it all in, to soak in the experience, to enjoy the moment. “Every official hopes they get a call to go work a Super Bowl, that you rank No. 1 at your spot, that you did the job you were supposed to do and you did it well,” she says. “I was stoked, pumped, and I was glad my kids were there. I got them down on the field, and we took a picture at the end of the game. That was monumental. It was the Super Bowl.”

A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, Karon Warren is a huge football fan who loves to cheer on her Southern Miss Golden Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, and New Orleans Saints.

Rhythm and Hues

By Jan Schroder Photography courtesy of Ron Olson and Vicki Olson

Memphis radio deejay Ron Olson turns lifelong passion for music into an art career.

“You mean that radio guy? He does art?” It’s a common reaction from visitors to the shops, galleries, and homes where Ron Olson’s music-related art is displayed. Since the 1970s, Olson has entertained Memphians by spinning tunes, instigating stunts, and telling stories as an FM radio deejay. He grew up listening to soul music and began his radio career while still in college. “My first paying job was at a little AM station that played country music,” Olson says. “Our number one song was ‘Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer.’ I got paid $1.25 an hour.” In the late ‘70s Olson was program director of K97 in Memphis, then one of the largest urban stations in the country, before returning to being a deejay. “We were all lucky enough to be in the music industry at the time we were in it,” he says. “Deejays were the influencers then — we told you what songs were great and where to buy them and what concerts to see. It was the most fun I’ve ever had. We worked with the best people and discovered a lot of artists. Our biggest song was ‘Rapper’s Delight’ — we could have played it every 10 minutes.” He did play a song repeatedly on his show once, which led to the Rolling Stones changing their tour schedule to come to Memphis, the result of his most memorable stunt as a deejay. “The album, ‘Some Girls,’ had just come out and I didn’t think the song ‘Miss You’ was getting the airplay it deserved,” Olson says. That led to him playing it repeatedly during his show, getting tossed off the air, and getting back on the air by having 500 people show up at the station by offering