(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a two-part series on Minnesota Vikings Assistant Athletic Trainer Rob Roche. Roche, a Marian graduate, will be a featured guest on the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society’s Instagram Live Q&A session on June 9 at 8 p.m.).

Rob Roche laid the groundwork for a career in football at Marian Catholic.

It was there that Roche was introduced to what was possible as an athletic trainer, something he has parlayed into a successful tenure with the Minnesota Vikings.

With each stop along the way, Roche took another step toward what is soon to be his 15th season with the NFL franchise as an Assistant Athletic Trainer.

The Tamaqua native’s journey to Minnesota has included a familiar face throughout in Head Athletic Trainer Eric Sugarman, who grew up not too far from where Roche got his start.

“He’s a Hazelton native, which was funny that we didn’t know each other but we grew up close to each other,” Roche said. “He sort of found me at West Chester University. He was a professor there, and also the football athletic trainer while I was a student athletic trainer. And we just sort of clicked.

“He actually left West Chester to work for the Chicago Cubs (in 1996), and then he got hired by the Bears during my senior year of college. And he called me and told me he was working for the Bears and that he wanted me to come work the summer camp. That was my first introduction to the NFL.”

Their paths were intertwined in the years that followed.

After his stints with the Bears, Roche was a season-long intern with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2000 and during 2003-05 training camps, where he worked with Sugarman and Vikings assistant Tom Hunkele.

“We just meshed personally, and I think he saw that I was a hard-working person, and that I was really into the profession,” Roche said of Sugarman. “But we meshed on a personal level, too. And from there, I’ve really just been following him.”

Before joining the Vikings, Roche spent 2001-06 working as an assistant athletic trainer at Swarthmore College where he provided medical coverage for the NCAA Division III program. Along with athletic training responsibilities, Roche was an approved clinical instructor for athletic training students.

“While I was at Swarthmore, I continued to work training camp with the Eagles, and I would work home games, and the minicamps,” said Roche. “And I just kept my foot in that door, and he (Sugarman) helped me to do that.

“Then when he got hired in Minnesota, he brought me there as an assistant. We’ve been there now for 15 years, and we feel that we’ve built up one of the best sports medicine programs in the NFL.”

In 2013, the Vikings’ staff was recognized with the Excellence in Aquatics Award by HydroWorx in honor of their progressive use of aquatic therapy. The Vikings staff was honored by their NFL peers as the Athletic Training Staff of the Year for 2017 as part of the annual Ed Block Courage Award gala.

Roche noted that this offseason has been unlike any during his tenure, with teams dealing with limited access to players and facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Right now, we’re following all the protocols of the NFL,” said Roche. “We’re following the directions of our state and our governor, and we’re working on implementing the recommendations of the CDC. That’s where we’re at right now.

“But as far as what we miss, we have 30 or so new players, and this time of year is when we get to know them and get to see what they’re all about and start building relationships and camaraderie. We’ve missed that. So that’s been difficult, and not only with the players, but with the staff as well.”

Roche has experienced highs and lows in the postseason with the Vikings, who fell to the Saints in the NFC title game in 2009.

In 2017, he witnessed Vikings’ quarterback Case Keenum’s 61-yard pass to Stefon Diggs on the game’s final play that sent them to the NFC title game and marked the first time in the NFL postseason that a game was won with a touchdown on the final play of regulation in a 29-24 win over the Saints in what has become the “Minneapolis Miracle.”

While he would have preferred being a participant in Super Bowl LII that year (the Vikings lost to the Eagles 38-7 in the NFC Championship Game), Roche was still able to witness history as Philadelphia knocked off the Patriots 41-33 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

“It was ironic for me, because growing up I worked for the Eagles, and a lot of my friends are Eagles fans,” Roche said. “My friends are very supportive of my career, but it gets tough when we matchup against the Eagles.

“But it was a great experience to work the Super Bowl, and Minneapolis was an incredible host. We got to do a bunch of different Super Bowl activities throughout the week. And I was on the sideline for the game, which was one of the best in NFL history. So if we couldn’t win it, it was fun to see my hometown team win it.”

That was just one of many ‘pinch me’ moments Roche has had working in the NFL, an opportunity he has never taken lightly.

“Even when I’m just standing at practice, and I look around and see the elite talent that we have,” Roche said. “The Danielle Hunters, the Harrison Smiths, the Dalvin Cooks; Kirk Cousins; Adam Thielen. I look around and say, ‘These are my co-workers I get to work with everyday.’ I get to know them on a personal level, and get to see them work on their craft and play at a high level on Sundays. You can’t take it for granted. It’s a very competitive industry. I’m fortunate to be here for 15 years. But it could all end before you know it.”

Whether it’s Men of Marian Stadium, overseas, or the sport’s biggest stage, Roche has found a home on the gridiron.

“I would love to be a head athletic trainer in the NFL,” said Roche. “I think anybody who gets to the NFL level is a motivated person, and wants to be the best that they can. I would love to progress in my career, and get to that level and front my own department. The ultimate goal, when you’re working in the NFL, is to win that Super Bowl. Every year, that’s our goal. By the time it’s over, I always tell everyone I’d love to have two rings, so I could give one to each of my sons.”

And it all started in Hometown.

Roche was with the Colts when they reached the summit during his high school days, winning a state title in 1990.

Despite the fact that he hasn’t lived in the area in quite a while, he still feels a connection.

Roche sympathizes with high school and college sports programs around the country that lost or had their seasons cut short by COVID-19, especially one from his hometown.

“I pay attention to the sports scene there, and I felt bad for Jimmy Barron, he’s a friend of mine and I was pulling for Tamaqua to go deep in the playoffs there,” Roche said of the Raiders’ boys basketball team and their mentor, who had their season stopped before they could play a PIAA Class 4A quarterfinal contest against Pope John Paul II. “For them to have their season cut short when they had a really good chance to advance, I felt terrible for them.”

Roche is still very proud and appreciative of where he came from.

“Marian was such an influence on me,” he said. “I’m still good friends with Mark Gallagher, who is the athletic trainer there. We grew up together in Tamaqua and played ball together, and I talk to him often. I talk to Stan (Dakosty, athletic director and head football coach) often. I just never forgot my roots. That Marian Colt pride is ingrained in me, and it’s one of the reasons I’m at this level.

“I do the best I can to communicate with them, and give back to them. If I can help in any way, I do.

Roche’s help isn’t limited to Marian, however.

“The same thing with Tom McCarroll (Lehighton football coach and Marian graduate). He’s a real good friend of mine, and we grew up together; he was one class below. We played sports together and we were really good friends. He calls me all the time, and I’m happy to give back to him, and help him in any way I can, because he’s a good friend of mine.”

“I feel like those Pennsylvania roots are strong in me, and I’m happy to give back. I’m thankful because they helped get me to this level.”