Adam Sandler's character may be The Waterboy most people picture for college and professional football, but a water company brand wants to shine a light on those men and women on the sidelines who run out onto the field during timeouts with plastic bottles of electrolytes and water.
A video about "hydration assistants" comes from the brand Liquid Death, which uses a very impractical — in my opinion — aluminum can for its packaging. (Observations from encountering this brand at a recent event ranged from "Oh that's water? I thought it was beer," to "I wish I could reseal this and sip on it for a while.")
But let's ignore the marketing and instead salute the actual water boy — or water girl — you see on the sidelines with bottles. They're typically someone who's already an athletic trainer or is studying to become one.
The Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society offers internships with teams during the regular season and at training camps. The trainers not only prepare and carry bottles seen during games and practices, but also they have increased importance at summer training camps where they sometimes are working with young players who don't yet know their limits.
"Monitoring and counseling players on their hydration … during training camp is a priority of every NFL athletic training staff," PFATS says.
