Establishing a career in the National Football League is the dream of millions of children across the country, and it was no different for Bristol native Alexia Malone Oliver.

“Basically every Sunday my dad and I would watch football. That’s kind of how I fell in love with the sport. It was like our bonding time,” she said. “I knew as a little girl I wanted to do something with the NFL, I just didn’t know what.”

And although Malone Oliver was a multi-sport athlete at Bay View and Simmons College, she didn’t try to break into professional football by strapping on a helmet and duking it out between the hash marks. Rather, she realized after sustaining nagging hamstring and back injuries — and going through both negative and positive experiences with physical therapy — that her best route into the pros would be on the sidelines, helping maintain the health of the athletes that make the sport so exciting to witness.

“These guys work so hard,” she said. “This is their life, and I just want to try to make it as easy as possible for them to get healed and be able to get on the field. If they’re not playing, depending on their contract, they’re not getting paid either.”

Despite being told from some teachers and even a guidance counselor that she didn’t have the educational prowess to pursue physical therapy (PT) as a career, Malone Oliver put her head down and worked for it.

“I kind of had people throughout my path saying I wasn’t smart enough to do what I was going to do,” she said. “Looking back, I think that was my motivating factor. Like, let me prove you wrong.”

Hard work pays off
She attended Simmons College’s accelerated doctorate program beginning in 2012, and emerged with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science in 2016 and her doctorate in physical therapy in 2018. But even with these degrees, she knew she still needed more training to make it in the pros. Physical therapy is important to regenerating the strength and conditioning status of an athlete following an injury, but the real rock stars of the game-day gridiron medical staff are the athletic trainers (ATs).

“During a game you see the doctor and AT run onto the field check the guy out, see if they’re okay to stay on the field and then run off the field. I realized I didn’t know how to do any of that,” Malone Oliver said. “Another one of my mentors said if I wanted to get in the NFL and be taken seriously, I had to go to AT school.”

So she did, and graduated from Boston University in 2020 with a master’s in athletic training. During her time at BU, she also got her first taste of NFL life through a summer internship with the New York Giants, which solidified the dream further in her mind. Next was a seasonal internship with the Denver Broncos, which she performed for a year. Although the Broncos originally asked her to stay, Malone Oliver felt it would be best to get a bit more experience by accepting a job as Boston College’s Assistant Director of Sports Medicine, where she helped coordinate and develop the football program’s rehab protocols.

But a couple months ago, the call came again from Denver. This time, they were creating a position just for her as an Assistant Athletic Trainer/Physical Therapist. “I said yes, take me back,” she recalled.
And so the dream became reality.

“We were always very involved with our girls, and they’ll tell you that,” said Valerie Malone, Alexia’s mother, referring to her other daughter, Ana, who became a veterinarian. “We raised them with certain standards and we set the example for them. We encouraged them along the way and we helped them whenever they needed it. We’re so happy for her. She’s accomplished her lifelong goal and we’re so proud of her.”

Alexia is the first to admit her parents are at the top of the list of positive influences in her life.

“I definitely wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for my parents being so motivational,” she said. “I’d take a test in PT school and I’d call my mom crying, saying I failed, it’s over, I’m out, this dream is done. She’s like, ‘Come on, you’re fine.’”

Health notes from an NFL pro
Now that Malone Oliver is professionally keeping some of the fittest, most health-conscious athletes on the planet healthy, it seemed appropriate to ask her for some best practices any regular person might implement into their own lives to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

“Just create that routine,” she said. “It takes about 21 days to create a routine, and then once you’re in it, it becomes a part of your life. Granted, those 21 days are tough, but then it’s a lot smoother from there.”

Beyond that, working out regularly, eating right and getting enough sleep are the major keys.

“Working out is so important for your body. You can definitely tell the difference between a 30-year-old that works out versus a 30-year-old that doesn’t,” she said. “And if you’re not sleeping, you’re not recovering, so you can’t work out…If you’re not putting in quality, good food, you’re not going to be able to perform as well.”

“You’ll notice that you feel better too,” she said of those who are able to implement this healthy routine. “And that makes a world of difference.”

Malone Oliver lives by that advice too. She ran the Boston Marathon in 2017 — inspired after she witnessed the bombings in 2013 while seated at the finish line, raising over $8,000 for breast cancer research — and she says that nothing provides stress release like a good workout.

“After a long day, you don’t want to work out necessarily, but that’s my de-stresser,” she said. “Even if I don’t feel like doing it in that moment, I know it will make me feel better after.”

Helping break a glass ceiling
Although Malone Oliver didn’t become the first female professional football player, she is helping establish women as a more involved part of medical staffs throughout the NFL. She said that as of 2020, there were only eight female ATs in the whole league. This season, she estimates there will be at least 15.

“It’s getting better, which is awesome,” she said, although she said gender shouldn’t matter as much as your personality and professional skill.

Malone Oliver said that any young girl with a dream should find someone to look up to. For her, it was Sue Falsone, who became the first female head athletic trainer in U.S. professional sports with the Los Angeles Dodgers of the MLB.

“She does not know who I am, but she’s always been an idol of mine,” Malone Oliver said. “I kind of always wanted to be her, but in football.”

And since one of her childhood dreams already came true, meeting Falsone might not remain a childhood dream for long.

“I just found out she got a job with the Texans, and we play the Texans this year,” she said with a smile.