“Hey, I saw you on TV,” isn’t a text or verbal greeting many people receive from friends and family. Then again, many people weren’t on the sidelines with the Minnesota Vikings during home games at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis like Lizzy Kaul.
Football fans were able to catch glimpses of Kaul during NFL broadcasts as part of her work as a Vikings nutrition and dietetics intern from July 2025–to January 2026. This great opportunity was made possible through Viterbo University’s Dietetic Internship Program, which provides students with more than the minimum 1,000 hours of supervised practice required to become a Registered Dietitian.
“I’m so grateful,” Kaul said. “I’ve gotten to know people in the organization and that combined with everything I’ve learned will really help me in the future.”
The many things Kaul learned ranged from the processes required to run an entire nutrition department, meal planning, large group catering, and nutrition counseling to more sports-specific knowledge like nutrition’s role in injury recovery, proper nutrition pre and post-surgery, concussion protocols, anti-inflammatory diets, and optimal nutrient intake timing for workouts.
Kaul laughed in the affirmative when asked if some of this knowledge would have helped her as a soccer player at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She earned a degree in biology from UW-L and master’s degree in nutrition from the University of Minnesota. Suffering from a stomach malady that was only helped through diet when she was in high school sparked an interest in the field. She originally planned to work researching gut health, but many hours spent in the lab helped her realize she wanted a more people-focused career. A love of sports and a volunteer internship with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers football team as a graduate student put her on her present career path.
The internship with the Vikings had been arranged by Viterbo faculty member Jamie Weber, who has extensive contacts throughout the industry. Viterbo University’s Dietetic Internship program offers rotation placement throughout the entire U.S., all sites are arranged by university personnel, making the process much easier for students.
“I plan to stick with sports,” Kaul said of her post-licensure career plans. “I really like football, but I’m open to all sports and going where the jobs are.”