Stephen Hauschka ’07 might soon have some company.
Even casual fans of Panther football are familiar with the kicker’s story, one that began with his walk-on tryout for the Middlebury football team in the early 2000s and eventually ended with him competing professionally in the National Football League for nearly a decade, a time when he set NFL records, earned a Super Bowl ring, and was honored as an alternate to the Pro Bowl.
Hauschka was great (he was just inducted into the Midd Athletics Hall of Fame) and rare—a Division III standout who made the monumental leap to the upper echelon of competitive football.
Now Thomas Perry ’25 has a shot at adding another chapter to the “Midd Alum Heads to the NFL” story. The six-foot-three, 311-pound offensive lineman recently competed in the East-West Shrine Bowl, an all-star showcase for professional football aspirants, almost all of whom come from Division I schools.
And he did pretty damn well.
A few days before the game, a video of Perry holding his own in practice against a pass rusher from the University of Georgia went viral; this clip was followed by reports that consistently mentioned the Midd star as one who stood out among his peers.
Postgame—he played many snaps at both offensive guard and center—Perry was touted as one who greatly improved his chances at being drafted by an NFL team this April.
We don’t have him penciled in for a Super Bowl quite yet, but we’re certainly warming to the possibility that we just might have another Panther to cheer for on Sundays.
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