NFLBy Chris Novak on

The Green Bay Packers have made a historic hire. The team hired Erin Roberge to be their first female full-time athletic trainer in their illustrious history.

Green Bay made Roberge’s hire official on Thursday. In a release, the team said, “The Green Bay Packers hired Erin Roberge as an assistant athletic trainer. The announcement was made Thursday by General Manager Brian Gutekunst. Roberge (ro-BAIRGE), who has been working with the Packers as an intern since the summer of 2020, is the first female full-time athletic trainer in franchise history.”

Roberge attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison prior to joining the Packers as an intern, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training. She has since risen up the ladder and her historic promotion on Thursday is a major feat for women in sports.

The NFL world reacted to the historic hire after it was made official.

NFL Sr. Director Sam Rapoport tweeted, “Let’s keep this #forwardprogress going. Hell yes. Congrats, Erin.”

The Wisconsin Athletic Trainers’ Association congratulated Erin on her groundbreaking hire.

Packers fan and Kansas play-by-play voice Brendan Dzwierzynski tweeted, “Football is for everyone. Congrats to Erin!”

Kris Burke of Acme Packing Co. applauded the move to hire Roberge.

And PackersHistory.com had little to no issue calling critics out on the hire. “If your first thought after hearing that the Packers hired Erin Roberge as an assistant athletic trainer–the first woman to be a full-time trainer in franchise history–was something among the lines of ‘why’ or ‘oh great, a woman,’ please know I think you’re a pathetic little man!” they tweeted.

[Packers]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022

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