All they do during their summers is run on treadmills, pump iron and perform agility drills, right?
Wrong.
Like most students at Northwestern, football players found jobs and worked throughout their summer vacations, whether as a student, outdoor laborer or an office intern.
Wide receiver Tonjua Jones, a graduate student in the sports administration program, worked for Gatorade helping educate children ages five through 18 about hydration at camps on campus during the summer.
Jones, who managed 19 other NU athletes, devised schedules and handled payroll.
“I made sure everything ran smoothly,” he said.
Jones, who graduated with a degree in sociology and a minor in business institutions, said the internship will help if he decides to pursue a career in business.
“My goal is to be an entrepreneur, and with that in mind, there will be people working for me, and this job helped me work on my people skills and my public speaking,” he said.
Adam Kadela, who graduated in the spring, found an internship working for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
“I really knew nothing about it at all going into it,” he said.
During winter quarter last year, Kadela had the opportunity to work in the business world when he interned for Equity Residential, a real-estate company, in downtown Chicago. But he left at the end of the quarter unsure if the field was for him.
“I’m really undecided on whether I’d like to work in business or law, which is why I thought I’d try working in the public sector,” he said.
At the Attorney General’s office, Kadela said he helped with research in the high-tech crimes bureau, which handles online crimes, including tracking down online sexual predators.
While the linebacker is still unsure whether to peruse business or law, senior Dylan Thiry said he feels his internship in construction will be helpful in choosing his career.
The offensive lineman worked for Thatcher Engineering Corp., a firm based in Gary, Ind., that is currently one of the contractors working on the Silverman building on north campus.
Thiry had the chance to work on the job site, hard hat and all, learning the ins and outs of the business as he worked side-by-side with other contractors.
But he said his workload was inconsistent.
“There were a lot of days where I didn’t have anything to do, so I spent time focusing on football,” he said.
After his internship, Thiry said he now knows he would like to work in construction.
“I’ve been interested in construction since I was a kid – taking things apart, putting them back together,” he said. “But if football plays out the way I’d like it to, I may have to delay it a few years.”
Like most football players, Thiry had to balance his long-term career goals with his football ambitions.
The Cats work out throughout the summer, but because many of them have jobs, the team offers two times at which they can exercise, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
“It gives guys with jobs choices as to when to work out,” Kadela said.
While the team doesn’t have to stay on campus throughout the summer, Thiry said almost all players do.
“It’s an unspoken rule that if you want to be a better team, you’ve got to stay in Evanston,” he said. “If we want to play in the postseason, you have to be up here. You just can’t expect to get better if you’re not.”
Reach Tommy Giglio at [email protected].