UM Athletic Training Student Gains Experience with NFL’s Buffalo Bills

By Kyle Spurr, UM News Service

MISSOULA – University of Montana athletic training student Audrey Missildine is back working on the sidelines at Griz football games this season after an eventful summer in Upstate New York. 

Missildine, a graduate student in her final year of UM’s Athletic Training Program within the School of Integrative Physiology and Athletic Training, completed a nearly six-week internship with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. 

She was immersed with the professional football team during training camp at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York and at the team’s facility in Buffalo during the NFL preseason. 

“I’m excited to share everything I learned with the Bills here with the Griz,” Missildine said. “It definitely solidified that this is what I want to do as a career.” 

Missildine applied for the highly competitive internship through the Professional Football Athletic Training Society and sent her resume to all 32 NFL teams before being selected by the Bills. 

Once she arrived in Buffalo, she was a part of the team. Missildine stayed in a residence hall at training camp with other Bills staff and players. One of her favorite memories was spending time with the professional athletes off the field while they needed treatment. 

Each evening, Missildine and other athletic training interns would treat players while they played video games and cards in the residence hall lobbies. 

“I watched them play a lot of Xbox and Catan,” Missildine said. “Those were probably the best times just hanging out with them like normal people.” 

Her internship culminated with going on the field for the Bills final preseason game against the Carolina Panthers. She worked on the sideline patching up bleeding players and making sure they all stayed hydrated. 

The Bill’s Highmark Stadium holds over 70,000 fans and was the largest sporting venue Missildine ever worked. She was amazed by all the fans and how loud they cheered. But besides all the excitement, she still had a job to do. 

“In all reality, it was just a football game,” Missildine said. “I’ve worked tons of them here in Montana and in high school too. It’s pretty much all the same in that aspect but with a few thousand more people watching you.”

Gaining professional experience as a student is a highlight and expectation of UM’s Athletic Training Program. The five-year program starts with three years of undergraduate study followed by two years of graduate school. Students can complete the program starting as an undergraduate or they can complete the two-year graduate program following a bachelor’s degree. First-year graduate students are assigned clinical rotations with Griz Athletics and high school teams across Montana. Second-year graduate students like Missildine can choose their clinical rotations and stay with a team for the entire school year. 

Athletic training students also are encouraged to pursue professional opportunities with other universities, organizations and teams like the Bills. 

“It’s nice to be able to give students the opportunities they want to get,” said Mitch Willert, coordinator of clinical education for the UM Master of Athletic Training Program.

Willert helped coordinate Missildine’s internship with the Bills and was excited for her to get the chance to work at the highest level of the sport. When students get those professional experiences, they return with fresh ideas and viewpoints, Willert said. 

“They bring back a different perspective for the other students in the program and for us as faculty,” he said. “That is beneficial regardless of where they are coming back from.” 

While at her internship, Missildine worked long shifts lasting from 12 to 14 hours. She didn’t have much down time, but she was able to explore Upstate New York. She and the other interns found a popular ice cream spot in Rochester, took walks to the Erie Canal and visited Canada. The group also rode on the Maid of the Mist tour boat to see Niagara Falls. 

“It was awesome,” Missildine said. “We had on ponchos, but our hair still got soaking wet.”

Growing up in Yelm, Washington, Missildine was a sports fan who played softball and was in the sports medicine club in high school. She watched a lot of sports, but never a Bills game. 

That will change this NFL season. 

“I’ll definitely be watching some Bills games this year,” Missildine said. “I have those connections with some players and got to see a lot of rookies make the 53-man roster. That was pretty exciting to watch their journey and get to see them make the team.” 

Overall, Missildine felt prepared for her internship. Some of the other interns hadn’t taken as many classes as Missildine and didn’t have as much hands-on experience. 

“The program here set me up for success.” Missildine said. “I knew everything I needed to going into it.”

###

Contact: Dave Kuntz, UM director of strategic communications, 406-243-5659, dave.kuntz@umontana.edu