GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – A Green Bay Packers athletic trainer is making history.

Erin Roberge is the first female full-time athletic trainer in team history. The team hired her for the role last year after she had interned with the Packers since 2020.

“It’s cool to be that first person, but it just feels like going into work for me, but it is really nice,” said Roberge. “Hopefully all this attention will help younger women who want to be in sports, in the NFL, or just be an athletic trainer.”

Although she’s from Minnesota, Roberge grew up a Packers fan. She attended the University of Wisconsin and said she was originally going to study animal science, but eventually switched to athletic training. She said her older sister went to the University of Wisconsin and she wanted to follow in her footsteps as soon as she visited the campus for the first time.

She said that getting to work with the Badger football team helped her fall in love with athletic training. She also got to work with the men’s and women’s rowing teams.

“When you saw them initially go down with the injury and then saw them every day until they got back on the field, that feeling when you finally start to see them play again, was what initially drew me into the profession,” said Roberge.

Roberge said that it’s surreal to get to work for the Packers every single day.

She hopes her story can help inspire other women. She said that through hard work and dedication, anybody can reach the highest levels of this profession.

“There’s definitely women in almost every role in football now, and I hope that it continues growing,” said Roberge.

“(For me) I started at the bottom of the ladder and just doing the hard work and just working your way up.”

Roberge said starting her career with the Packers during the COVID-19 pandemic was a challenge because athletic trainers had to shoulder the additional responsibility of disease prevention.