As the 2023 fall season approaches for the University of Mary Washington's fall athletic teams, former Eagle Emily Badis '15 is also looking forward to the start of the regular season… of the National Football League. Badis, a UMW field hockey alum and member of the team's 2012 NCAA Final Four run, begins her third season as the Manager of Football Administration for the Minnesota Vikings, looking for more playoff success at the highest level of pro sports.
Emily took the time to answer some questions for us, in between her busy days at training camp in preparing for the 2023 campaign.
- You played on one of the most successful teams in UMW field hockey history, and the next year started every game in goal. What lessons did you learn playing field hockey at UMW that serves you well in your current position?
One of the most important things about being a goalie is communication and seeing the whole field, I think that has translated perfectly to my role now and working in an NFL front office. While playing, I learned how to communicate with my teammates, to help provide direction during the game – the same thing is true now. Field hockey helped me learn how to effectively communicate with my coworkers and within the different departments. I've learned how to explain how a move could impact our salary cap, or what points and arguments can be used in a contract negotiation. The second most important lesson I learned is how to stay cool under pressure. There's a lot of pressure being a goalie! You're essentially the last thing between the opposing team and a goal being scored. That has translated so well into my current role – we work under tight deadlines and in stressful situations quite frequently, and panicking doesn't bode well under those circumstances. Field hockey helped me learn how to stay calm, do my job, and fight until the clock is at 0:00.
- What did you study at UMW, and what did you do post-graduation, to prepare you and vault you into this position?
I received my Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in 2015 from UMW and immediately after, I went to graduate school and received my Master of Science in Applied Statistics from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 2017. From there, I began an internship in football analytics with the Atlanta Falcons in August of 2017. What was supposed to be a 6-month internship turned into almost four years, where I had the opportunity to not only learn about how analytics can impact a football team in all different ways, but I also discovered the world of Football Administration and all things salary cap, compliance, and contract negotiations. And that led me to the Vikings, now two years ago!
- How do you think being a former student-athlete has helped prepare you for an important role with an NFL team?
The biggest thing I learned from being a former student-athlete was time management. You have to be able to balance your sport, classes, studying, but also a social life! There can be so many things happening on a daily basis in my current role, but I'm confident in knowing what to prioritize and how to get things done and that all stems from the trial (and probably a fair amount of error) from being a student-athlete at the collegiate level.
- What's the most rewarding, and challenging parts of your job?
It is so rewarding getting to see all of our hard work and efforts throughout the whole year once we hit gamedays in season – you get to see a culmination of everything you've done and all of the hours you've worked finally come together, and hopefully ultimately win a Super Bowl! The other incredibly rewarding part of my job is just getting to experience so many different things with my family and friends, they come visit for games and they get to go on the field for pregame warmups, and my parents even got to go to their first Super Bowl this past season, them having the opportunity to do that was probably the coolest thing in the world for me. On the other hand, I think the biggest challenge is missing out on some things with my family and friends – the NFL is in season during Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I don't typically get to spend holidays with them and that can be hard. It can also be challenging to turn it off when you're at home after a 12-hour day – sometimes my brain will keep thinking about different ways we could approach something or how to try to solve a problem, and I wake up at night thinking about these things more often than I'd like to admit! But it's completely worth it when you come up with the idea, there's no better feeling.
- What do you remember most about playing at UMW?
There are so many things that are still with me from playing at UMW that make me nostalgic all the time. For one, every Sunday in season when the National Anthem plays, I still get chills thinking about that feeling when I'd be out on the field before our games, holding my teammates hands, ready to play – it gets me pumped up now the same way it did back then. The other biggest thing I remember is just how much fun we had, I feel like we lived by the motto 'work hard, play hard'. I am so grateful for my time playing at UMW and for my teammates that turned into my best friends and my family – we've gotten to travel to new cities together, I've watched them become successful adults, have beautiful children – playing field hockey at UMW gave me so much more than just the opportunity to play at the next level, it gave me memories I'll never forget and people that will be in my life forever.