Kinesiology Student at Mississippi College Enjoys New Orleans Saints Internship

Mississippi College sophomore Tyler Thomas, 21, of Brandon was a summer intern with the New Orleans Saints at their training facility in West Virginia. The kinesiology major hopes to help the NFL team at the Superdome later this year after finishing his work with the MC Choctaws football team this fall.

In the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia, Mississippi College student Tyler Thomas loved working long days as a summer intern with the New Orleans Saints.

An MC kinesiology major, Tyler says his extraordinary learning experience with Who Dat Nation will pay dividends down the road. Perhaps it will lead to a dream job as head athletic trainer with the University of Tennessee Vols or with an NFL team.

Whether working with star players like quarterback Drew Brees or little-known rookies, the 20-year-old Brandon resident cherished every minute at the Saints training camp. Based at the famous Greenbrier resort for a month was also an opportunity for Tyler to share his faith with the Saints.

Tyler’s Dad is one of his son’s biggest fans. “One of the neat things I’ve noticed is Tyler’s awareness of players who are believers in Christ,” says Scott Thomas, president of the Safari Christian Business Alliance in Clinton.

“In addition, Tyler showed sensitivity to the emotional pain these world class athletes experience with the smallest of injuries,” says Scott Thomas, former pastor at First Baptist Church Brandon. “He realized that almost any injury can be career ending.”

Weeks after his July-August internship with the Saints at the sprawling 10,000-acre resort in West Virginia, Tyler is back on the football field.

This time, he’s helping MC head athletic trainer Matt Verret at Choctaws football games at Robinson-Hale Stadium on the Clinton campus.

His experience with the Saints, Tyler said, “opened my eyes a lot. I learned so much with the Saints, and I’m able to apply it here with the MC football team. I’m able to understand more and learn more things.”

As a student athletic trainer, he’s responsible for setting up and taking down the hydration for practices and games, and handles therapeutic ice and heating for Choctaws players in the athletic training room. He’s traveling with Coach John Bland and the MC team to Rome, Georgia to face Shorter University on October 2.

While his focus this fall is MC Choctaws football as they transition to NCAA Division II and return to the Gulf South Conference, Tyler always keeps tabs on the Saints. He remains optimistic about his NFL team’s chances, even though the Saints are struggling with a 1-3 start this season. The latest New Orleans defeat was a 38-17 road loss in late September to the Dallas Cowboys.

Win or lose, Tyler’s followed the Saints closely since seeing them at his first NFL game in September 2006. It was the first home game at the Superdome since Hurricane Katrina brought destruction to the region in 2005.

The former manager of the Brandon Bulldogs football team for three years, the Mississippi College sophomore predicts the Saints will bounce back this season. After all, they’re the 2009 Super Bowl champs with a super roster. Stars like Brees, tight end Jimmy Graham, and wide receivers Robert Meachem and Marques Colston will keep the Saints in the playoffs, Tyler figures.

Meachem remains his favorite New Orleans Saint. Tyler watched him growing up in Knoxville, Tennessee a fan at Tennessee Volunteers games and got to see him up-close at training camp in West Virginia.

As a Saints intern, the work seldom slowed down. The MC student reported at 6 a.m. and was among the last to leave training camp at 10:30 p.m. Setting up coolers of Gatorade or helping players with rehab, interns stayed busy in the Mountaineer State.

Scott Thomas was delighted to find out his son handled his summer assignment quite well.

Rick Reiprish, director of college scouting for the New Orleans Saints, spoke to the Rankin County family by phone. He told them “Tyler is touching a lot of lives,” Scott Thomas said. Tyler Thomas “is gifted and is one of the hardest working interns” with the Saints, Rick said.

Since returning to help MC Choctaws football players, Tyler Thomas seems to be an even greater bundle of energy. The Lafayette, Louisiana native hopes to continue to assist the Saints at NFL home games in the Superdome once the 2014 football season ends at Mississippi College.