By ARABELLA SERRATA
Joseph (Joey) Ricco, Port Isabel Alumni, recently finished an internship with the Kansas City Chiefs. The PRESS spoke with Ricco about his experiences.
Ricco offered some insight into the program and how it worked. He said the program was a partnership between the Kansas City Chiefs and Missouri Western State University.
Going into the internship, Ricco said he felt excited that his hard work was finally starting to pay off.
“I was really excited because working in the NFL has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. I’ve been setting myself up for this since I got to UT Austin,” said Ricco.
He also expressed concerns before the internship, mainly about the “cutthroat” nature of the entertainment industry, which the National Football League [NFL] is a part of. However, Ricco’s doubts were cast aside once he started the program.
“Once you get that first job, it starts to feel less like a dream and more like where you’re supposed to be,” said Ricco.
Ricco said the people in the program were nothing like he initially thought. According to Ricco, there was a strong support system within the program and the team wanted to see each other succeed.
Ricco met some celebrities during his internship, but this did not get in the way of his professionalism.
“These aren’t zoo animals—they’re your coworkers,” said Ricco. While he and many other interns were NFL fans, they had to cast that aside to do their jobs.
“As awesome as it is to be around future ‘Hall of Famers’ every day, you have to think of them as colleagues and learn to put the fan in you aside,” said Ricco.
The workload was sometimes harsh, especially since Ricco was doing college classes and a virtual sales development program with the New York Mets. Ricco said his schedule consisted of work from six in the morning to one in the afternoon, then going straight to his school or Mets assignments. In the rare times he had a free afternoon, he was often napping with the rest of his team. Evenings were the only time Ricco got to explore the Kansas City area.
The internship pushed Ricco to complete tasks that kept him on his toes. One day, he was organizing field visits for corporate sponsors and friends of staff members. Then he handled VIP and media tents and transportation for family members, media, players and more. Ricco also had to set up and take down the camp used for the daily visitors, which he said could get as high as 6,000 people.
“It was certainly all hands-on deck to get everything ready and ensure safety. This part was definitely a lot of work, especially of the intern-type, but seeing everything come together was pretty cool,” said Ricco.
Ricco shared some of his favorite moments during the internship. He made connections with the President of Team Operations, Brock Baumert, several scouts and a member of the Chiefs’ legal council.
“Some of the other great experiences included going to two Royals games with my intern crew, getting a full tour of Arrowhead Stadium where we tried on Super Bowl rings, saw the Lombardi trophies, and got to experience a day as fans instead of workers,” said Ricco.
Ricco also assisted some young Chiefs fans as part of the “Helmet Walk” program.
“I remember being that age, and when you love football, those guys are nothing short of superheroes, so helping connect kids with that opportunity, while a minuscule part of my internship, was something I really enjoyed,” said Ricco.
Ricco has learned a lot from the internship and plans on applying that knowledge to his current and future jobs. At UT Austin, Ricco is a recruiting operations intern with the Texas Longhorns.
“This upcoming season, I know I’ll be able to leverage the specific knowledge I gained from the Chiefs, particularly in understanding how large-scale football operations are run and what’s needed to carry them out at the highest level,” said Ricco.
Ricco plans on working his way to a position in the football administration within the NFL’s New York office. Ricco said he plans on attending law school to learn the legal side of football operations. He recognizes the importance of a legal education on the football field and is confident that a hands-on education will pair nicely with a legal one.
Ricco offered some possible sources of information for those interested in a similar path. LinkedIn, TeamWork Online and Sports Business Ventures were the sites he listed. He also said the internship recruiting season runs from late November to mid-April.
“I’m especially eager to connect with people from the Valley area because it’s awesome to see folks from our region making it into big organizations around the country… We’re often overlooked since we’re far from the major cities in Texas and across the U.S., but that shouldn’t hold anyone back,” said Ricco.
Ricco graduated from Port Isabel Early College High School in 2022. He was president of the student body and National Honor Society throughout high school. Ricco graduated fifth in his class, earning high academic honors. He participated in the school’s dual enrollment program, earning 32 college credit hours before his enrollment at UT Austin. He is now a rising junior double majoring in Sport Management and Government with dual minors in Analytics & the Business of Sports and Sports Media.
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