October 24, 2025 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu
Throughout their two-year program, athletic training students complete a wide variety of clinical education experiences – learning from mentors and serving patients in every setting from Marching Band to ROTC to the performing arts. They serve nearly every sport associated with USC and fan out around the Midlands community to provide much-needed support to local high schools, hospitals, and clinics.
With its reputation for turning out the best athletic trainers, the program’s alumni often find themselves with offers to work in professional sports as well. Rounding out their core rotations with a summer internship with the pros is one way that Arnold School students experience the atmosphere of such a setting – helping them determine whether the fast-paced, always-changing, but very rewarding career path may be in their future.
“My time in Atlanta was one of my greatest learning opportunities from working with high-level and high-value athletes to working with different professionals in the athlete's circle of care,” says Brooks English, a second-year student who interned with the Falcons. “After completing this experience, I recognize the true demand that it puts on the staff in the professional setting, but it makes me interested in what opportunities are out there that would allow for other new athletic trainers to work with professional athletes in different settings.”
Like others in the program, English’s goal was to enhance his manual therapy skills with joint mobilizations, muscle releases, stretching techniques, and massage. Remembering what it was like when they were students themselves, the full-time Falcons staff gave the interns every possible opportunity to learn and practice their clinical skills.
English was also able to connect with two Arnold School alumni, Julie Warren and Ari Cowen. He had worked with Warren the previous year while both were supporting the USC football team, and Cowen helped oversee the interns during the summer program with the Falcons.
“It was great to connect with them,” English says. “Julie and Ari both understand how USC prepares their students for different environments and were able to provide guidance on how to adapt because they have already been through the program.”
English is one of 10 Arnold School students to land summer athletic training internships with the NFL. The list of students and their placements reveal a diverse set of locations and experiences the students can learn from both individually and collectively as they’ve returned to campus for the fall semester after completing their six-week commitments.
The interns themselves are diverse as well. Four of them are women, five are South Carolinians, and one is an international student.
With alumni working as athletic trainers in every professional support, this type of role is not a new idea for members of the program. Yet internships like these are important opportunities to assess the match between students and their future careers. And it’s an important step in getting a foot in the door.
“The work that athletic trainers do is critical in every setting,” says Amy Fraley, director of clinical education for the professional athletic training program. “We’re
excited when our students have the chance to experience different environments so
they gain practical skills and a better idea of their interests.”
2025 Athletic Training Students with NFL Internships
| Student | Team |
|---|---|
| Cameron Brown | New York Giants |
| Isabel Chavis | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Brooks English | Atlanta Falcons |
| Becca Martin | New England Patriots |
| Rollo Mulliner | Seattle Seahawks |
| Sydney Mutascio | Green Bay Packers |
| Nico Perez | Chicago Bears |
| Brandon Rackley | Miami Dolphins |
| Kaleigh Robinson | Jacksonville Jaguars |
| Jared Sanford | Minnesota Vikings |