Lansing Eastern and MSU alumnus Kaleb Thornhill is the director of player engagement for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
“It’s an all-encompassing role with many obligations,” says Thornhill. “I get the opportunity to impact lives, which is what I love.”
It may not be an NFL position you’ve heard of before, but Thornhill says every team has one. He describes how he wants to be a “guiding light” for young NFL players.
“How do you leverage the NFL, not as the end point in your life and the pinnacle, but just the beginning and the catalyst towards the future?
“The most fun part of the job is that I don’t know what’s coming from day to day. But I have to be ready with a solution for whatever issue walks through the door.”
Thornhill describes how he’s in the thick of the NFL’s protest issues. And he believes in dealing with football’s challenges, like head injuries, proactively.
Thornhill credits his father, the late Charles Mad Dog Thornhill, who played on MSU’s great teams in the mid 60’s, with his desire to help others.
In October Thornhill received a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03ENPpsXSvU">distinguished young alumnus award from his alma mater. He says what MSU taught him most is to appreciate diversity.
“MSU gave me my foundation for life. It really did.”
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