Auburn Game Face

Written by: Sarah Farmer

Ben Thomas came to Auburn University in 1980 with his sights set on a career in football, but after retiring from the NFL he was excited to come back to serve the same campus and community he felt such a strong a connection to.

“I love Auburn,” said Thomas, who was a 1985 second round draft pick for the New England Patriots. “I always have since the first day since I stepped on this campus.”

Thomas has held a role within Auburn Athletics since 1997, and as the director of athletic facilities he experiences a gameday in Neville Arena differently than any other fan in the building.

“I'm here for every game, and normally I have a station up in section 118 where I can sit and oversee the floor. Then at halftime, I check everything and make sure that for the second half everybody still has what they need to enjoy the basketball game.”

Although his job is to primarily handle the behind-the-scenes setup and breakdown of Neville Arena before and after each athletic event, he is face to face daily with Auburn student athletes as well as student workers.

“When I finished playing football, I didn't know what direction I was going in,” Thomas said. “Once I came here, I fell in love with just being around athletes—helping them and teaching them a little bit of something that I learned when I was an athlete.”

A group of 16 student workers come in to assist Thomas with his day-to-day activities. From setups for a volleyball practice to breakdowns of home basketball games, these Auburn students spend hours doing the hard work that many fans are not aware of.

Being able to laugh and joke with them while making sure they accomplish their overall goals for athletes and fans is the part of his job that he enjoys the most.

“They come in here and set this up so the players can come out and play and for the fans to come and really enjoy the game. But, they juggle their class hours—they’re in engineering or in building science, just trying to go to school at the same time that they’re here working.”

Thomas may have focused the beginning of his career on football, but he’s always had an interest in basketball.

“I’m always excited about basketball and about any of our sports, really. But I've always been fascinated with basketball, and I love the competition,” he said. “They even stretch different muscles than we did playing football, so it makes it more exciting to see them move.”

Through the years, Thomas has worked with many different coaches, athletes and staff members, but he remains committed to supporting Auburn Athletics year after year.

“Whether they lose or not, I'm still a big fan and I'm still going to perform no matter what, because I know at some point it all going to get talked around and then they are all going to start winning.”