Yelm High School graduate Audrey Missildine is gaining valuable experience as an athletic trainer as she is spending nearly six weeks in New York completing an internship with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.
She arrived in the Northeast on July 18 and will depart once the Bills’ roster is finalized on Aug. 26.
Missildine, a 2021 graduate, fell in love with the athletic training field after becoming part of YHS’s sports medicine program during her time at the school. She was in the YHS sports medicine program for three years, where she practiced her athletic training skills and tasks “pretty much every day.” Her former teacher at YHS Gary Clinton has written her multiple reference letters and has remained active in her education and success, she said.
Missildine, a graduate student at the University of Montana, said she enjoyed working with the YHS football team as a sports medicine student in Yelm, which ultimately led her to studying athletic training at the university. While in Missoula, Missildine landed an internship with the Buffalo Bills after graduating with her bachelor’s degree thanks to help from one of her professors. She applied for the internship through the Professional Football Athletic Training Society (PFATS) and sent a resume and cover letter to all 32 NFL teams before hearing back from the Bills.
“I knew I wanted to do something with football. One of my professors did a seasonal internship with the Patriots, I believe, and he knew about this internship and how to apply for it. He shared that information with me, and I applied for it through PFATS shortly after,” Missildine said on July 31. “I got a call from the Bills in early March. I got to interview, and got it a couple of weeks after that.”
Missildine is currently housed at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York, where the Buffalo Bills host their training camp practices. She’ll intern throughout the duration of the Bills’ training camp and preseason schedule.
“We’re staying on that campus. We’re all in the dorms,” Missildine said. “I pretty much do a little bit of everything. I get to do treatment with them. I work practice with them. Pretty much everything they do, I’m there.”
As an intern, she’ll have the opportunity to work the NFL preseason game between the Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers on Aug. 24. Missildine said she’s already met and interacted with the majority of athletes, coaches and staff in Buffalo.
“The athletic training staff here in Buffalo is awesome. They’re super professional, super intelligent individuals. It’s a great opportunity to even be in the same room with them, meet them, listen to their ideas and see how they go about things,” she said. “All the players are great and welcoming as well.”
She also had high praise for Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott, who has led his team to the postseason for five consecutive seasons.
“He’s amazing, as well. He’s super welcoming of the medical staff,” Missildine said. “He’s been in the training room every day saying hi, checking in on everybody, interacting with us and staying on the same page as us. He’s an amazing coach from what I’ve seen so far.”
While Missildine interns for the Buffalo Bills athletic training staff, she typically starts her day at 6 a.m. and concludes between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. On days the team doesn’t practice, she’s still at the facility giving players the necessary medical treatment to make it through a grueling training camp.
When she isn’t busy, Missildine has explored New York a little bit, including a trip to the Erie Canal, which runs east to west between Lake Erie and the Hudson River. She also had the opportunity to attend the Pittsford Farm Dairy in Rochester, New York, which she said is a popular spot to get ice cream.
“We’ve gotten to explore a little bit. We got to drive from Buffalo to Rochester, which is like an hour and a half drive. I got to see some of the scenery on the way here, which was great,” Missildine said. “We do plan to go to Niagara Falls, but once we get back to Buffalo. It’s a little bit closer on that side.”
The current intern said she’s extremely thankful for the opportunity and has enjoyed her time in New York so far.
“I didn’t even know this was an opportunity that was out there. I’m working with an NFL team while still in college, still at a pretty young age. I’m only 21 years old. I did running start in high school, where I got my associates degree. I’ve been out of high school for three years, and I’ll have my master’s degree in a year,” she said. “I’m very fortunate in that academic setting that I was able to do it at such an accelerated pace because of the running start program at Yelm. Take every opportunity you can, meet everyone you can, and make sure everybody knows your name. Networking is very powerful.”
Once her internship with the Buffalo Bills concludes, Missildine will return to Missoula, Montana, for her second and final year of graduate school. She’ll return to work with the Montana Grizzlies football program from late August through her graduation date in May.
She’s already spent time with the Grizzlies football program during graduate school, including a trip to Frisco, Texas, for the FCS National Championship game between the University of Montana Grizzlies and South Dakota State University Jackrabbits last January.
She also had the opportunity to serve as an athletic trainer for the University of Montana’s softball team.
“I liked working with Grizz softball a lot,” she said. “I actually got to work with some of the girls I played with in high school because they play in the program, which was pretty cool.”
Once her graduate school concludes in May, Missildine will receive her masters degree in athletic training and will eventually apply to all 32 NFL teams to find an athletic training job.
“I really do love the professional football environment. I’ve loved everything I’ve seen so far. So, as of now, I’m planning to apply for a seasonal athletic training position. Right out of school, you’ll sign up for a one-year contract with them before you become a full time assistant athletic trainer on staff,” she said. “If working in professional football doesn’t work out, I’m also really, really interested in working in college football. I’ll probably apply for a bunch of college (jobs) as well.”
