As you make your plans for watching the “Big Game” next week, know one thing: the medical staffs of the two teams - the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints - are very busy.
I spent two summers in junior high schools cleaning bathrooms at Mohawk Trail State Forest in Massachusetts and I learned a very valuable lesson. There is always someone working very hard behind the scenes to allow others to enjoy an opportunity.
The world of sports medicine is no different. Although I enjoy this line of work so much more than the one with the mop and plunger!
The amount of medical supplies needed for the entire week of practice and the Super Bowl game is impressive. The detail in the preparation required by these two athletic training staffs would amaze you. They have to plan for every blister, every muscle strain, every massage and every emergency that may arise for all of the players, the staff and, believe it or not, all of the families traveling with the team!
Both teams have their injuries even if those injuries don’t make the headlines. After 26 weeks of football the fatigue and trauma to the bodies of these players is daunting.
Dwight Freeney, the All-World defensive lineman for the Colts has a well-publicized ankle injury. His status remains uncertain for Sunday’s Super Bowl. Speaking from experience of having serious injuries for key players for big playoff games, the stress is there!
Put yourself in the role of Head Athletic Trainer/Physical Therapist:
>The player wants to play…his coach needs him to play…his teammates beg him to play…now it’s up to you and your staff to find a way to get him on the field. As you think about being in that situation, be honest…did your pulse quicken and your stress meter go up?
THAT is why I’m in this profession. I love the challenge of getting world-class athletes back to an elite level each week. It’s not easy and the pressure that comes with such a responsibility will quickly show you if you can work under pressure. I know I’m not pulling people out of burning buildings or curing cancer so I realize the importance of what I do each day may not rank as the most important jobs in the world. But I do know one thing: I love to go to work every day and that shows me that I’m doing what I’m suppose to be doing at this point in my life.
Back to the medical issues preparing for a Super Bowl…
Forget the old football movies like “North Dallas Forty” when the athletic trainers were no more than medicine pushers who gave our strong painkillers to get players back onto the field regardless of the severity of their injuries. Today’s certified athletic trainer has too much respect for the players and our profession to simply mask the pain instead of treating and rehabbing the injuries. Both of the outstanding medical staffs of the Saints and the Colts are utilizing the latest and the greatest sports medicine tools and techniques to safely prepare their athletes for the last game of the season.
The types of modalities, the manual therapy techniques, the cold therapies, the biomechanical proprioception drills and the hard work of true medical professionals will give each of the players the very best chance to play. By these athletic trainers doing their job of taking care of the players, each player healthy enough to play will run onto that Super Bowl field next Sunday and, more importantly, maximize his potential to safely stay on that field until the final play of the game.
Should an NFL athletic trainer ever be voted MVP of a Super Bowl?
Ask the players for the Saints and the Colts to see how valid a question that really is!
