This Engineering Student Is an NFL Flag Football Champion
Rutgers sophomore Allison Gandlin, a member of the Honors College, also interns for the video technology department of the Scarlet Knights football team
Allison Gandlin, a sophomore at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, sees flag football much like her engineering coursework: It’s about solving problems.
The Staten Island, N.Y., resident certainly knows how to solve problems on the field. In February, she was named one of two NFL Flag Football Players of the Year (the other is Ryder Noche, a 15-year-old who lives in Arizona). The two were honored during the 13th annual NFL Honors in Las Vegas on Feb. 8.
Later, in July, Gandlin and her younger sister, Valerie, played on the Staten Island Giants flag football team, which won the NFL Flag championship in the girls 18 and under division against the Apex Predators of Las Vegas at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio.
“We weren’t the favorites to win,” said Allison Gandlin, an Honors College student who scored two touchdowns – including the final one of the game – and snagged an interception in the 28-7 victory. “We've proven ourselves over and over again, but we were not the favorites.”
Gandlin hopes to continue her winning streak on an international stage. She has dreams of competing in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 when flag football will be included as an exhibition sport.
“I’ve been trying out for the women’s national team for the past two years,” she said.
A competitive dancer as a child, Gandlin said she always considered herself athletic and that flag football “kind of just fell into my lap.” She started playing in the yard after school with friends “and didn't want to leave.”
“I was dancing for 10 years, both me and my sister,” Gandlin said. “I'd never played an organized sport. And then just after school, throwing around a football led us to join a local league and then, our current coach made an all-star team from all of the players in the rec league, and we traveled altogether.”
Football, be it tackle or flag, speaks to her.
“I think it gives me a lot of confidence,” said Gandlin, a 19-year-old who plays safety and center, which in flag football also serves as the receiver. “It's a very complicated sport even though there are only five people on the field at a time. Same reason I love tackle football as well. There are just so many different ways to run so many different schemes where you have to mix up talent, skills, speed and agility with understanding the rules and trying to create and execute a concept with a team.”
Gandlin, who trains on her own at the sports fields on Busch campus, attends the Rutgers School of Engineering, where she is majoring in industrial and systems engineering.
“I was always a STEM person,” said Gandlin, referring to science, technology, engineering and math. “My mom was a math teacher, and I grew up really enjoying problem-solving, logical things like that. My high school was also a STEM school. It was a technical high school where I took engineering classes within my first few years and so I understood holistically what it was. I just really like problem-solving and trying to make things more efficient.”
In addition to being a part of the Honors College Media Team, Gandlin is an intern with the video technology department for the Rutgers football team. She records practices and games, edits
video and sets up various tech at SHI Stadium (or at away games). Gandlin traveled with the Scarlet Knights twice last year and said she hopes to do so again this year.
“I've been with them all training camp, and it's just been really cool to see them grow.” she said. “I know the potential that our team has this year, so I'm super excited to watch that happen.”
“She's very reliable,” said Jeremy Engel, co-director of video technology for the Scarlet Knights and a 2018 Rutgers graduate. “She always strives to do more, learn as much as she can, and I never really have to worry about her. She's progressed super quick and does a great job.”
Engel added, “As great as she is to work with though, she's an even better person and I can't wait to see her continue to grow.”
At Rutgers-New Brunswick, Gandlin has been active in intramural sports, particularly volleyball and flag football, which “was all boys.” She wants to start a women’s club team.
“That's the goal,” she said.
As for professional football, while Gandlin said she loves the Giants, she appreciates New York’s other NFL franchise, too.
“I’ve seen the Jets do a lot for the community,” she said.
And what about Gandlin’s favorite college football team?
“Obviously, Rutgers,” she said. “Come on.”
