Tom Hunkele enters his second season as an assistant on the Vikings’ athletic training staff in 2007. Hunkele and Eric Sugarman worked together for six seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. Hunkele assists in the evaluation and care of all injuries sustained and help implement proactive treatment and rehabilitation programs for the athletes.
During Hunkele’s tenure with the Eagles from 2000-05 he worked with NovaCare Rehabilitation as a Staff Physical Therapist during the off-season and as an assistant with the team starting in the pre-season through the remainder of the schedule. While working with the Eagles, Hunkele was part of Rick Burkholder’s highly-regarded staff and was exposed to some of the most progressive rehab programs and techniques at work in the NFL today.
Hunkele started in the athletic training field as a student at Duquesne where he assisted with the athletic training staff for football during his undergraduate days. During the 1997 season he was exposed to the NFL for the first time when he served as a season-long intern for the Pittsburgh Steelers as the team advanced to the AFC Championship to face eventual Super Bowl champs Denver.
Following his graduation in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in athletic training from Duquesne, Hunkele remained at the school to earn his master’s in physical therapy. During graduate school he served as a graduate assistant from 1998-2000 where he worked as head trainer for the men’s soccer, ice hockey and men’s and women’s tennis teams along, with supervising student assistants.
Hunkele, a native of Reading, PA, and graduate of Holy Name High School, is a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association along with being a licensed physical therapist in Minnesota. Hunkele was married in July 2006 to Rachel Arora and the couple resides in Plymouth, MN.