Tag: NFL

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Life of an NFL athletic trainer

Article reposted from VailDaily
Author: Richard Williams

Richard Williams is an athletic trainer who recently joined the team at Vail-Summit Orthopaedics. He works both in the office and in surgery. It’s pretty cool that he has a Super Bowl ring from 2015. In this article, I asked Williams to describe life as an athletic trainer in the NFL.

Dr. Rick Cunningham
Vail-Summit Orthopaedics

Football is back and for many people, it is an entertainment business that allows us to cheer on our favorite team each week. I had the privilege to work in the NFL as an athletic training student for two years and as a certified athletic trainer for a year.

“I hope that one day people will stop looking at athletic trainers as “water boys” and learn how much time and effort we put into the care of these athletes on a daily basis.”

This time of year reminds me of the hard work, dedication and time spent with those teams during training camp and moving forward into the season. I was lucky enough to work for two different NFL organizations, including the Cincinnati Bengals and the Denver Broncos.

The athletic training staff is only one component to the success of an NFL team, but it is a major part of helping athletes achieve maximum production from their bodies and ultimately keeping them on the field. The daily duties for an athletic trainer, as well as the hours they work, make the job difficult mentally and physically.

A DAY IN THE LIFE

Most people do not know what an athletic trainer’s job entails. Some people may see athletic trainers as “water boys” with the easiest job in the world, but in reality, athletic trainers do much more than make sure the athletes are well hydrated. Athletic trainers are responsible for treatment throughout the entire injury process for a player, from the time of injury to the athlete returning to play.

During my time in the NFL, I would typically get up at 4 o’clock in the morning and arrive at work around 4:45 a.m. to start treatments by 5:30 a.m. Treatments would consist of therapeutic modalities (i.e. ultrasound), joint mobilization techniques, soft tissue massage, stretching, aqua therapy, physical exercises and core strengthening.

Treatments would continue until the players would go to individual and team meetings. NFL players cannot perform at their highest level if they do not continue to take care of the bodies. After player meetings, there would be more treatment sessions before practice.

While players were attending meetings, myself and another athletic trainer would set up the field for practice. Before practice, athletic trainers would each lead 10-15 athletes through a thorough stretching program. During practice, athletic trainer duties included surveying the field for possible areas where the players were at higher risk of injury, hydration, immediate evaluation and treatment of player’s injuries, and helping the players or coaches whenever needed.

After practice, we would take medical equipment inside and begin further treatment sessions until the players went to additional meetings in the afternoon. After the players finished meetings, we would finish final treatments for the day. Training camp was always the most intense work schedule as we would have a walk-through practice and a full practice the same day. Our daily hours would be from 5:30 a.m. until 11:00 p.m.

‘ON CALL’

I believe that the head athletic trainer of the Houston Texans, Geoff Kaplan, said it best when he was interviewed about being an athletic trainer in the NFL.

He said, “It’s a very attractive job because all people see is Sunday, from noon to 3. What people don’t see is my cell phone is on and I am on call, 24 hours a day, seven days a week during football season. We’re on call just like a doctor is on call. During the season, you work six months straight without a day off. Depending on if we’re traveling or not, we’re working between 80 and 90 hours a week. During training camp, we’re working 110 to 120 hours a week. The Sunday part is very attractive but you have to have a very understanding family to do the Monday through Saturday part.”

I am thankful for the opportunity I had to work in the NFL and although I made great friendships and relationships with amazing athletes, I am more thankful for the education I was able to obtain and the skills and techniques that I will use for the rest of my career.

I was lucky enough to be a part of the 2015 Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos organization that made the long days and grueling season all worth it.

I hope that one day people will stop looking at athletic trainers as “water boys” and learn how much time and effort we put into the care of these athletes on a daily basis.

Richard Williams is an ATC and OTC to Dr. Richard Cunningham, M.D. Vail-Summit Orthopaedics. Williams received his undergraduate degree in athletic training from the University of Cincinnati. As an undergrad, he completed two seasonal internships with the Cincinnati Bengals. Upon graduation from the University of Cincinnati, Williams worked as a certified athletic trainer fellow for the Denver Broncos and went on to be a part of the Super Bowl 50 championship team. Williams is a board-certified orthopedic technologist and licensed surgical assistant. For more information, visit http://www.VailKnee.com.

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Broncos, NFL help fund Colorado High School athletic trainer

Article reposted from 9 News
Author: Taylor Temby

From concussions to heat stroke to sprains and broken bones, injuries are not uncommon in high school athletes. These days, many programs rely on athletic trainers to keep their students healthy, but those can come at a high cost.

“[Adams City High School] has actually has never had a certified athletic trainer,” Adams City athletic director Joe Ladow said.

For years, coaches served as the first line of defense against injuries. It would also be left up to the students and their parents to take action when necessary.

“In a setting where you have this many athletes and there’s no athletic trainer present, it kind of falls on the kids to self-treat or parents to help if they need ice or any other medications,” certified athletic trainer Bria Witner said. “It’s up to the coaches to try and recognize if there’s an injury or if someone needs more water, or needs to take a break or if they can’t practice that day.”

“We tried our best to go by the protocols of what we learned in the various clinics that talked about concussions, and obviously being able to recognize the signs,” Adams City football head coach Jesse Jones said. “We did have volunteers, people who were on the sidelines with us that were able to spot a kid that may be a little woozy or something like that. Sometimes we even had the trainer of the opposing team who would lend a hand and say, ‘Hey, [number] 21 may need to be checked out,’ or something of that nature.”

Adams City has close to 600 student-athletes participating in 18 sports throughout the year. Now, for the first time, they will have a certified athletic trainer tending to its students.

Denver Broncos Charities, the NFL Foundation and Children’s Hospital Colorado announced the Eagles will be the beneficiary of this year’s NFL Club Matching Certified Athletic Trainer Grant. The $50,000 grant — which is split 50-50 between the Broncos and NFL Foundation — will place Witner, a certified athletic trainer from Children’s Hospital Colorado, at the high school for one calendar year. She will work a minimum of 20 hours a week, tending to students of all sports at practices and games.

“[High schoolers’] bodies are built differently than adult bodies and they have to be treated different when it comes to injuring certain body parts,” Witner said. “I think being with Children’s Hospital, we’re trained to see the different things that could happen in a school-aged kid.”

Witner’s role includes treating athletes for current injuries, rehabbing them from surgeries and preventing future ones.

“We want the best for our kids and their success,” Ladow said. “Having someone of Bria’s expertise working at Children’s Hospital, that’s just going to move us forward in that positive direction of what our vision is of what our athletics can become.”

Adams City says the addition of an athletic trainer will allow its student-athletes to perform at their peak levels, while also putting parents and coaches at ease.

“For me, it’s a Godsend,” Jones said. “It adds layers of credibility. I really feel like having an athletic trainer solidifies the culture.”
“We get a chance to streamline what we’re here for,” he said. “We’re here to coach the players, we’re overseeing various aspects of their athleticism from start to finish. When we have that at our disposal, we can relax as coaches and do our job, and these players know they have someone they can tap into that they trust.”

“We want the best for our kids and their success. Having someone of Bria’s expertise working at Children’s Hospital, that’s just going to move us forward in that positive direction of what our vision is of what our athletics can become,” Ladow said.

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William Paterson University Professor Takes His Expertise to the NFL

Article reposted from William Patterson University
Author: William Patterson University

It’s Sunday afternoon and a crisp autumn chill has settled over the field at MetLife Stadium. With 10 minutes to go until kickoff, a pop song echoes through the jumbo-tron speakers, dozens of television reporters and photographers frenetically bustle around the sidelines, and the quiet roar of 82,000 eager fans sweeps through the air. William Paterson University Professor of Kinesiology Dr. Robb Rehberg stands mid-field, takes in the sights and sounds, and then heads to his post high above the action.

An Athletic Trainer Certified (ATC) spotter for the NFL, Rehberg is responsible for the well-being of some of the best athletes in the nation playing one of the most dangerous sports in the world. From his booth atop MetLife, he is charged with spotting potential injuries on the field – mainly of the head and neck – and alerting medical personnel on the ground. If a player is obviously disoriented and attempting to remain in the game, Rehberg can go so far as to have the head referee stop the game to ensure the athlete is safely removed and evaluated by medical staff.

“It’s really a split-second decision,” Rehberg says. “As calm as I am in emergency situations, and I usually stay calm, we have a big responsibility to make the right call at the right time. If we decide that stopping a game is necessary, we must have certainly done it for the right reason. You don’t want to influence the outcome of the game … so you get that feeling in the pit of your stomach right before every game starts. But whether you’re playing on the field or working in the booth, once that game begins, you just jump into action.”

ATC spotters can watch both the live action game and the network broadcast from their booths, where they have their own video technician to replay footage on command, from various angles, for immediate review. When an injury concern appears validated via replay, ATC spotters have the in-booth technician log and label the associated video clip, and send it to a sideline monitor for physician or athletic trainer review.

“One of the things I found interesting, after all my years of working in football, is that I never thought: When you work as an athletic trainer on the sideline, you see one perspective and perhaps one injury. But as an ATC spotter, you have several views as well as replay, and depending on the play, you can have multiple players injured at once,” Rehberg says.

The NFL instituted an injury review system near the end of the 2011 season after Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy took a helmet-to-helmet hit and was sent back to the game without being tested for a concussion. The team’s athletic trainers didn’t see the hit because they were busy tending to other players. After the game, McCoy was diagnosed with a concussion.

ATC spotters were subsequently added to the NFL roster to serve as another set of more-focused eyes, far from the hubbub of the sidelines. Whereas one ATC spotter at a time previously worked each game, this season, the NFL changed its protocol to have two spotters in the booth. That change created an opportunity for Rehberg, which he more than happily accepted. He has been assigned to NY Jets home games.

On game days, he and his co-spotter arrive at the stadium three hours before kickoff. They have meetings with both teams’ medical staffs, they meet with the head referee and test the booth-to-referee radio system; and they run tests on the equipment of the video technician in the booth. Rehberg has never had a game that didn’t involve logging at least a few prospective injuries, and though he has had to call down to the sideline medical staff a few times, his crew hasn’t yet needed to stop a game altogether this season.

Rehberg – who played football for a decade and spent years as a high school athletic trainer, youth football coach and emergency medical services chief prior to becoming a professor – has always had a strong interest in concussion management and athlete safety. He was one of the first athletic trainers in New Jersey to work in a hospital-based concussion program at Overlook Medical Center – one of the largest of its kind in the area. He is also co-founder and president of Sport Safety International, which is dedicated to promoting safe participation in sport and physical activities through education. In the past six years, Sport Safety International has provided free online courses to roughly half a million people spanning 52 countries.

“Going into this, I knew a lot regarding the scrutiny of the NFL, about whether or not they do everything they can to keep athletes as healthy and safe as possible,” Rehberg says. “One of the things I can say from my perspective is that the NFL is doing everything it can, and using athletic trainers as spotters has the ability to make a big difference. I’m really excited to be a part of that.”

“As an athletic trainer, when it comes to watching for mechanisms of injury – with my students, we frequently go over videos about mechanisms that lead to injury – when that’s what you do for a living, getting to use those skills and abilities at the highest level is very exciting. I feel really fortunate to have been chosen for this program,” Rehberg says. “Football means a lot to me. I think it’s a great sport, and I think there are ways we can make it safer.”

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Browns Physician’s Show Support for NFL Athletic Trainer Program

Article reposted from Cleveland Browns
Author: Patrick Maks

Browns lead medical team physician Sean Cupp spent Friday at James F. Rhodes High School in an effort to highlight the NFL Foundation’s Athletic Trainer program.

In conjunction with the Cleveland Browns and University Hospitals, the program provides two certified athletic trainers at Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s Rhodes and John Hay high schools, whose football teams faced off this weekend. And Cupp and other Browns personnel were on site to recognize the grant and what it means.

“Athletic trainers are very important at our high school football games because they’re the first responders any time an athlete is injured,” Cupp said, “whether it’s a medical or orthopedic problem and they’re the first one to report to us as medical physicians what’s going on the sidelines.”

Beginning in 2014, the grant provided John Hay and Rhodes certified trainers in David Silverstein and Stacey Gainer as its staff, respectively.

Gainer and Silverstein will help provide yearround quality medical care on and off the field to the more than 18 sports programs and 600 youth competing in interscholastic athletics at the two high schools, which previously did not have the resources to retain ATC.

“I’ve said before this program is a godsend to me personally. I used to have to be athletic director, parent, doctor, nurse, trainer, everything all in one,” Rhodes athletic director Cheri Dzuro said. “And having Stacey here allows me to do the job I need to do and focus on that and knowing that the athletes are being taken care of … the kids definitely appreciate her, they’ve bonded with her.”

According to the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA), only approximately 50 percent of high school students nationwide have access to a full-time certified athletic trainer (ATC), who play an important role in keeping young athletes safe.

A recent study from the American Academy of Pediatrics showed that the presence of athletic trainers can have a significant impact on student-athlete health, resulting in lower injury rates, improved diagnosis and return-to-play decisions for concussion and other injuries, as well as fewer recurrent injuries. Access to ATCs is particularly challenging in low-income and rural communities.

The Browns and University Hospitals are dedicated to increasing player health and safety at the youth and high school levels. Through camps, clinics and other football-based initiatives, the team promotes healthy, social, emotional, intellectual and physical development of youth by enhancing opportunities for participation and education through our youth football platform.

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Malone University Athletic Trainer Hired as NFL Independent Observer

Article reposted from CantonRep.com
Author: CantonRep.com

Malone University Director of Sports Medicine and Head Athletic Trainer Chris Watson has been hired by the NFL as an independent certified athletic trainer at Cleveland Browns home games this season.

Watson’s role will be to observe play on the field and monitor the broadcast feed of the game to identify players who may be injured. An emphasis will be on concussions and other head and neck injuries. If Watson observes a play which may have resulted in a concussion or injury, he will call the team’s bench area and relay details to a credentialed team physician or head athletic trainer.

Watson’s first assignment will be the Browns’ final preseason home game on Sept. 1.

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Texas Rio Grande Valley Grad Finds NFL Internship

Article reposted from The Monitor
Author: Dennis Silva

As a football player at La Joya Palmview High a few years ago, Edwin Gomez became well acquainted with the athletic training room at the Lobos’ fieldhouse.

“With football comes injuries, so I was hurt a few times,” said Gomez, who graduated from UTRGV in May with a major in kinesiology. “One time I dropped a weight on my quad, and that’s where it really started. I got to know the rehab process, got to know the profession and from there I was attached. Any free time I had, I’d sneak off into the training room and learn a few things here and there.”

Gomez didn’t know it at the time, but he had found his calling. His passion for athletic training, specifically the process of helping an athlete recover back to full health, has landed him in Nashville, Tennessee. Gomez is on an athletic training internship with the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, a long way from his time in Edinburg as an intern with the Vaqueros’ athletic training staff.

“Every opportunity is a great opportunity and I’m really thankful for the Tennessee Titans,” said Gomez, whose first day of camp with the Titans is Friday. “I came here to help other people get here as well. It’s not just for me. I’m trying to get this experience for my family and future colleagues from UTRGV. I’m trying to get the name out there.”

Dancing initially peaked Gomez’s interest; in high school, he danced folklórico. He earned a scholarship to dance Flamenco at the University of New Mexico, but left after a year to return home to the Rio Grande Valley after his grandfather died.

Gomez enrolled at UTRGV and got involved with its athletic training program under Jim Lancaster. For the next three years, Gomez received a first-hand tutorial on how to pay attention to detail and “never throw away the tape until you’ve used it all,” the latter a popular Lancaster adage.

Gomez worked with all sports except for soccer and worked particularly closely with the volleyball and baseball programs. Inquisitive and friendly, he was held in high regard by coaches, players and trainers. Gomez, 24, also handled a fulltime job to provide for his fiancé and daughter.

Former UTRGV athletic trainer David McDonald helped show Gomez how to apply for NFL internships in November. Athletic trainers Ashley Elwell and Andrea Chilcote assisted during the process as well.

Britt Brown, associate trainer and director of rehabilitation for the Dallas Cowboys, told Gomez about a scholarship for minorities that was available. Gomez applied and found out after spring break in March that the Titans had awarded him the scholarship.

“He is very motivated and ambitious,” said Elwell, Gomez’s supervisor with the UTRGV volleyball program. “He takes on a lot of responsibility in his personal life, but that never got in the way of things. He’s a quick learner, curious, and that goes a long way.

“Most students in internships with us don’t do these things like what Edwin is doing, so it’s refreshing when someone does. Students see it as a risk, but an opportunity like this pays off to be fearless.”

Gomez reported to Nashville on Monday. The internship lasts the entire NFL preseason; his final day is Sept. 5. His responsibilities include pre-practice rehabs, setting up and tearing down practice settings and working the sidelines during game days.

Gomez has run into running back DeMarco Murray and quarterback Marcus Mariota so far.

“I’m a little starstruck here and there,” Gomez said. “There is hope, and they’ve mentioned they (the Titans) do try and bring back seasonal interns the following year. My goal is to get to the NFL or a high-level college. I just love the grind.”

And he grinds to make a name, one Elwell feels will pay dividends for others who want to follow in Gomez’s tracks.

“A lot of kids who intern with us at UTRGV figure they’ll leave the program and just start working down here in the Valley,” Elwell said. “But it can lead to opportunities that are so much more. It’s about experiencing different places and different levels of athletics. You can learn so much more from that.”

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Fifteen High Schools Awarded $50,000 Each to Fund Athletic Trainers

The NFL Foundation, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA), Gatorade and the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society (PFATS) today announced the winners of the Athletic Trainer Initiative, a national grant contest to expand access to athletic trainers in underserved high schools and improve youth athlete safety. The fifteen winning schools each received $50,000 to develop athletic training programs that will provide nearly 5,000 student athletes with consistent access to this valuable resource. The announcement was made at the seventh-annual Youth Sports Safety Summit, hosted by NATA and the Youth Sports Safety Alliance.

The winners of the national grant contest are (more details included below):

  • Alden-Conger Public School (Alden, MN)
  • Attica Central School (Attica, NY)
  • California Lutheran High School (Wildomar, CA)
  • Canyon Ridge High School (Twin Falls, ID)
  • Carlisle High School (Henderson, TX)
  • John Muir High School (Pasadena, CA)
  • Lutheran High School (Chula Vista, CA)
  • Marist High School (Bayonne, NJ)
  • Mount St. Michael Academy (Bronx, NY)
  • Orrick R-XI High School (Orrick, MO)
  • Pleasant Valley High School (Chico, CA)
  • St. Anthony Village High School (Minneapolis, MN)
  • St. Thomas More High School (Rapid City, SD)
  • Walpole High School (Walpole, MA)
  • William V. Fisher Catholic High School (Lancaster, OH)

Ten additional high schools will receive an athletic safety presentation given by a local athletic trainer and a safety kit, which includes a Hydration Starter Kit from Gatorade and educational materials.

“This effort addresses a critical need and provides the means for these high schools to establish athletic training programs that will enhance the health and safety of their student athletes,” said JEFF MILLER, NFL executive vice president of health and safety policy. “This is an area of priority for us, and we will continue to work with our partners to expand access to athletic trainers in more schools across the country.”

Athletic trainers play a vital role in the health and safety of athletes. A recent study from the American Academy of Pediatrics showed that the presence of athletic trainers resulted in lower overall injury rates, improved diagnosis and return-to-play decisions for concussion and other injuries, and fewer recurrent injuries for student athletes. However, nearly two-thirds of high schools lack a full-time athletic trainer and almost thirty-percent do not have access to any athletic training services. This grant contest helps to tackle this need by providing schools with the necessary funding, educational resources, and programmatic support to put athletic trainers on the sidelines and better protect their athletes.

“A top priority of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association is the health and safety of the high school athlete,” said NATA President SCOTT SAILOR, EdD, ATC. “Through our partnership with the NFL, Gatorade and Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society, more students will be protected with the best possible safety measures in place.”

The grant contest, which launched in October, is an extension of the partners’ athletic training outreach program. The partners have committed more than $3 million to help fund athletic trainers in communities nationwide. To date, the outreach program has impacted an estimated 160,000 student athletes across more than 670 schools.

“We understand the importance of secondary school athletic trainers and believe partnerships like this one are key to ensuring youth athlete safety,” said JEFF KEARNEY, head of Gatorade Sports Marketing. “This program has brought us one step closer to the ultimate goal of having a full-time athletic trainer in every high school in the country, and we are proud to have worked with the NFL, NATA and PFATS on this important initiative.”

“The Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society is pleased to be a part of this important initiative,” said RICK BURKHOLDER, MS, ATC, PFATS president and head athletic trainer of the Kansas City Chiefs. “Athletic trainers play a critical role in the overall safety of all athletes, and the students at these winning schools will receive the medical services they so deserve.”

#          #          #

About The NFL Foundation: The National Football League Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of those touched by the game of football – from players at all levels to communities across the country. The NFL Foundation represents the 32 NFL clubs and supports the health, safety and wellness of athletes, youth football, and the communities that support our game. For more information on The NFL Foundation, visit: www.NFLFoundation.org.

About NATA: National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) – Health Care for Life & Sport Athletic trainers are health care professionals who specialize in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries and sport-related illnesses. They prevent and treat chronic musculoskeletal injuries from sports, physical and occupational activity, and provide immediate care for acute injuries. Athletic trainers offer a continuum of care that is unparalleled in health care. The National Athletic Trainers’ Association represents and supports 43,000 members of the athletic training profession. Visit www.nata.org.

About Gatorade: The Gatorade Company, a division of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), provides sports performance innovations designed to meet the needs of athletes at all competitive levels and across a broad range of sports. Backed by a 50 year history of studying the best athletes in the world and grounded in years of hydration and sports nutrition research at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, Gatorade provides scientifically formulated products to meet the sports fueling needs of athletes in all phases of athletic activity. For more information and a full list of products, please visit www.gatorade.com.

About PFATS: The Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society (PFATS) is a Professional Association representing the athletic trainers of the National Football League. We serve the players of the NFL, the member Clubs, and other members of the community.  Our purpose is to insure the highest quality of health care is provided to the National Football League. We are dedicated to the welfare of our members and committed to the promotion and advancement of athletic training through education and research.  The Society is founded on the professional integrity and the ethical standards of our members and the fellowship that exists among us. “PFATS cares to make a difference”

Contacts:

NFL:                  Catherine Boyle, 212/450-2162; catherine.boyle@nfl.com

NATA / PFATS: Robin Waxenberg, 212/489-8006; robin@robwax.com

Ellen Satlof, 972/532-8859; ellen@nata.org

Gatorade:          Katie Montiel Vidaillet, 312/821-2859; katherine.montiel@pepsico.com

 

Athletic Trainer Initiative Contest Winners:

  • Alden-Conger Public School (Alden, MN) – Due to budget and accessibility constraints, Alden-Conger has no athletic trainer coverage at practices or games for any of their sports programs. The grant will allow the school to launch its own athletic training program and work with local clinics to offer additional services to student athletes for injury treatment and recovery.
  • Attica Central School (Attica, NY) – Attica is one of the few schools in its conference without an athletic trainer. The grant will allow the school to hire a full-time certified athletic trainer and purchase the necessary supplies and equipment to provide full athletic training services for all of its sports programs.
  • California Lutheran High School (Wildomar, CA) – Due to budget constraints, California Lutheran has no athletic training services for its student athletes and relies on coaches to assess and treat injuries. The grant will allow the school to launch an athletic training program and provide a training facility on campus. Additionally, the school plans to establish a concussion protocol system and implement baseline testing for all of its student athletes.
  • Canyon Ridge High School (Twin Falls, ID) – Canyon Ridge lacks access to an athletic trainer and relies on parent volunteers to assist with medical needs for its 16 sports programs. With the grant, the school will be able to afford a partnership with the local hospital to provide an athletic trainer within the school. In addition, the school plans to restart its athletic training development program for students and offer concussion awareness seminars for student athletes, coaches and parents.
  • Carlisle High School (Henderson, TX) – Carlisle has no athletic trainer coverage at practices or games. With the grant, the school hopes to hire a full-time athletic trainer and establish a training facility for its sports programs at both the junior high and high school. The school also plans to implement a sports medicine program for students interested in the profession.
  • John Muir High School (Pasadena, CA) –John Muir has no access to an athletic trainer and relies on volunteers to support coaches with medical needs at games. This prevents the school from implementing proper injury prevention and assessment methods and providing the necessary equipment to ensure the safety of their student athletes. The grant will allow the school to hire a full-time athletic trainer and provide athletic training services – staff, facilities, equipment, supplies and access – for all. Currently lacking proper equipment, the school plans to use the funds to obtain diagnostic tools and technology for proper evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of concussions.
  • Lutheran High School (Chula Vista, CA) – Lutheran currently relies on coaches for medical coverage during practices and games. This grant will allow Lutheran to launch an athletic training program with a full-time athletic trainer, permanent training facility, and proper equipment and supplies.
  • Marist High School (Bayonne, NJ) – Marist currently does not have the funds to employ an athletic trainer and has minimal athletic trainer coverage for its sports programs. With the grant, Marist hopes to establish a formal athletic training program with a full-time athletic trainer, training facility and proper supplies and equipment to improve care for its student athletes.
  • Mount St. Michael Academy (Bronx, NY) – Currently, Mount St. Michael can only support a part-time athletic trainer for its 17 athletic programs. The grant will allow the school to hire a full-time athletic trainer for the 2016-2017 school year.
  • Orrick R-XI High School (Orrick, MO) – Due to budget restrictions, the school has no athletic trainer coverage and relies on coaches for injury assessment and treatment. The grant will enable the school to provide student athletes with athletic training services from the top sports medicine facility in the area. Students will also have access to the sports medicine clinic for rehabilitation and care.
  • Pleasant Valley High School (Chico, CA) – Budget constraints have impacted Pleasant Valley High’s ability to employ a full-time athletic trainer. The school has more than 1,200 student athletes that lack access to an athletic trainer and rely on coaches to provide medical care. With the grant, the school hopes to hire a full-time California teaching-credentialed athletic trainer, who would provide coverage at all sporting events, as well as teach sports medicine and health courses at the school.
  • St. Anthony Village High School (Minneapolis, MN) – St. Anthony Village is the only public high school without consistent athletic trainer coverage in the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The school currently has athletic trainer coverage for only varsity contests in two sports and no coverage for junior varsity and other lower-level programs. With the grant, the school will be able to provide athletic trainer coverage for all of its practices and home sports events. In addition, the school will begin baseline concussion testing for all of its student athletes to improve diagnosis and treatment.
  • St. Thomas More High School (Rapid City, SD) – St. Thomas More currently has minimal athletic trainer coverage, limited to a few practices and varsity home games, and lacks the proper space and equipment for an adequate athletic training program. The school plans to use the grant to boost athletic trainer coverage, refurbish its facility for athletic training services and offer sports medicine courses for students interested in the profession.
  • Walpole High School (Walpole, MA) – Walpole currently relies on a part-time athletic trainer for coverage of more than 20 athletic programs and more than 800 student athletes. The grant will allow Walpole to employ a full-time athletic trainer and expand their training facilities to better meet the needs of the student athletes.
  • William V. Fisher Catholic High School (Lancaster, OH) – Due to budget constraints, William V. Fisher Catholic High School can only afford minimal athletic trainer coverage for its sports programs and relies on coaches to manage injuries. With this grant, the school plans to hire a full-time athletic trainer for its sports programs, as well as update its athletic training room with new equipment and supplies. As an employee of the school, the athletic trainer would also teach educational and development courses to students interested in careers in athletic training. In addition, the funds will provide the school the ability to implement baseline concussion testing for its students. ​
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South Carolina Group Wins NFL Grant

Keeping athletes free from injury and getting them back in the game safely is the goal of McLeod Sports Medicine Certified Athletic Trainers. McLeod Athletic Trainers are located in high schools and colleges throughout the region preventing and caring for injuries associated with sports participation. Nearly 30 million children and adolescents participate in youth sports in the United States, and participation in organized sports is rising, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Recently, eight McLeod Sports Medicine Certified Athletic Trainers applied for and received “Back to Sports” grants from the National Football League (NFL) and American Heart Association to promote injury prevention in local schools. The grants cover supplies to host clinics for parents of high school athletes.

McLeod Sports Medicine Certified Athletic Trainers will conduct these clinics and address topics such as: concussion awareness, heat and hydration, cardiac arrest and proper response, and the prevention of overuse injuries.  They will also work with coaches at these schools to ensure they are up to date with Emergency Action Planning and current CPR guidelines.

The following schools have been awarded “Back to Sports” grants: South Florence High School (Sarah Shaeffer, ATC), Wilson High School (Brian Pettis, ATC), West Florence High School (Dave Heim, ATC), Trinity-Byrnes Collegiate School (Adam Ploeg, ATC), Mullins High School (Jessica Lowe, ATC), Pee Dee Academy (Brian Lowe, ATC), Robert E. Lee Academy (Dave Stoklosa, ATC), and Darlington High School (Jake Webster, ATC).

McLeod Sports Medicine has 23 Certified Athletic Trainers (ATC) on staff who provide medical care to athletes of 21 high schools in the counties of Florence, Darlington, Marion, Horry, Dillon, Lee, Marlboro, and Chesterfield. They also provide athletic training services to the Florence Red Wolves, Francis Marion University and Florence – Darlington Technical College. The goal of an athletic trainer is to prevent injuries, provide timely access to care and manage day to day sport injuries to help keep athletes participating in their sport. Certified Athletic Trainers are state licensed and Nationally Accredited by the Board of Certification.

For more information on preventing sports-related injuries, contact McLeod Sports Medicine at 843-777-5139.

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NFL to conduct conference call with all head athletic trainers

What should have been a simple situation became far more complication on Sunday, when the various persons put in place to protect players from themselves when they possibly have suffered concussions failed to protect Rams quarterback Case Keenum from himself.

To the neutral observer, it was obvious: Keenum needed to be removed from the game and checked for a concussion. So why didn’t the team, the officials, or (most importantly) the ATC spotter accomplish that?

The early story-and-we’re-sticking-to-it seems to be that the ATC spotter didn’t feel compelled to call down to the sidelines to exercise the ATC spotter’s unilateral right to stop the game for medical reasons, because a member of the Rams training staff went onto the field to talk to Keenum.

That’s not an acceptable explanation; the notion of independence was introduced into concussion evaluations six years ago to ensure that team employees would not have the final say on whether a team’s player who may be concussed returns to action. Unless the ATC spotter saw Keenum being evaluated by an independent neurologist, the ATC spotter should not have deferred to the inherently conflicted evaluations of a team employee.

Rams coach Jeff Fisher apparently disagrees with that assessment.

“You can not under these circumstances place blame on anybody,” Fisher told reporters on Monday, via Kevin Seifert on ESPN.com. Frankly, the right approach is to put the blame on everybody.

Even though Fisher was focused on game management, the trainer whom Fisher employs failed to get Keenum to the sideline for an evaluation. That alone justifies a helping of blame for the Rams, Fisher, and the trainer.

The game officials, who were on the field and surely able to see Keenum struggling to get up after his head hit the turf, deserve blame, too.

Ultimately, the ATC spotter gets the bulk of the blame on this one for assuming that simply because a person on the team’s payroll walked onto the field, that person would under the specific crunch-time circumstances of the game have the nerve to remove the first-string quarterback from play.

To its credit, the league office isn’t willing to simply shrugs its shoulders and say, “Stuff happens.” Via Chris Mortensen of ESPN, the NFL will conduct a mandatory conference call on Tuesday with all head athletic trainers aimed at preventing these situations from occurring.

And here’s the ultimate problem, as Mortensen explained it: “Close game, it’s your starting quarterback. What are you gonna do? You have to do the right thing.”

The right thing is to remove the player from action for a concussion evaluation, even if it turns out to be the wrong thing for the team. After all, yanking a key player who didn’t have a concussion but missed five or 10 minutes (or more) of real time in a key phase of the game creates a competitive disadvantage. Still, given what we now know about head injuries, ensuring that a player who took the hit that Keenum absorbed and demonstrated the behaviors we all saw afterward, the only thing to do is to get him off the field.

It’s a pass/fail situation, and the NFL failed on this one. The NFL seems to be willing to admit it, even if those directly or indirectly responsible for it aren’t.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
NFL to conduct conference call with all head athletic trainers on Tuesday

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Athletic Trainer serves as NFL injury spotter

Jim Gossett has been paid to watch football games for more than 30 years: for three decades as an athletic trainer at Columbia University and four seasons as an injury spotter for the NFL.

But this season, stationed high above the field at MetLife Stadium, Gossett is able to do something he has never done before: Stop the game.

For the first time, the NFL is giving spotters in the press box the power to call a medical timeout. Previously, only coaches or referees could stop the clock.

It’s the latest in a series of changes designed to make this inherently violent sport safer. It’s also the centerpiece of a carefully scripted public relations campaign by the NFL, an organization famous for aggressively controlling its image. The message from league executives? Football is “a safer game than it’s ever been.”

“The bottom line here is that the health and safety concerns of players in our game have to predominate over competitive issues. And implementing the medical timeout demonstrates that,” says Jeff Miller, the NFL’s senior vice president of health and safety policy.

Like so much in the NFL’s $10 billion empire, the timeout rule intertwines athletics and image. In addition to providing an extra safeguard for players, the rule will help avoid embarrassing incidents like that involving Patriots receiver Julian Edelman in the last Super Bowl. In the fourth quarter, Edelman was dazed after taking a hit clearly visible to TV viewers, yet he remained in the game for several more plays.

The trainer in the press box will now be able to stop the game and notify medical staff to examine the player.

“I think what most people know about being on the sidelines is that it’s not the best place to watch a game,” Gossett says. “The people at home see more.”

If the story of the new, safety-focused NFL hasn’t quite taken off, maybe it’s because of how long it took to get here.

For well over a decade the NFL downplayed the risks of concussions and vigorously denied that football could cause permanent brain damage.

Starting in the mid-1990s, a committee of NFL insiders tasked with studying the issue published a string of papers concluding that players faced virtually no long-term risks from head injuries and could quickly and safely return to play. Those assertions are now universally rejected by experts and contradict the league’s own safety guidelines.

The NFL’s botched handling of head injuries has been recounted in books, magazines, documentaries and was at the center of the class action lawsuit which the NFL paid $765 million to settle last year. And the story is about to get its Hollywood moment.

“Concussion” stars Will Smith as Dr. Bennet Omalu, the real-life neuropathologist who first identified a form of severe brain damage in deceased football players, a finding that the NFL disputed for years. The picture is scheduled for release Christmas Day.

Today, NFL officials say they are funding medical experts who study the long-term effects of concussions and defer questions about links to brain damage.

“You’ll have to ask one of those medical experts to explain what the state of the science is,” says Miller, a lawyer and former NFL lobbyist.

EXPERT OPINION

Medical experts generally agree that a growing body of evidence suggests repetitive head injuries like those seen in football can lead to neurological disorders, including dementia, depression and tremors. But many questions remain: Why do some players develop these crippling symptoms, while others go on to lead healthy lives? And do concussions alone lead to brain damage, or is it the routine head collisions that occur thousands of times per season?

The nation’s leading experts say recent rule changes have made football safer, but they resist blanket statements.

“I’d stop short of saying it’s as safe as it’s ever been because I think comparing football today to football in the 1960s is very difficult,” says Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, director of University of Michigan’s sports neurology program. “But I do see a natural evolution of the game becoming safer.”

Kutcher and others point to several key rule changes, including moving up the kickoff line to reduce returns, when many violent collisions occur. The league has also tried to protect players in a defenseless posture, especially receivers; eliminated virtually all blocks from behind; and installed a far more strident concussion examination and return-to-play protocol.

Some experts say the most important change has been the strict limit on full-contact practices during the regular season, capped at 14. That change was negotiated by the players union in 2011.

But authorities seem to agree the NFL is taking the right approach to studying the problem. Rather than appointing its own expert committees, the NFL has given $30 million in unrestricted funding to the National Institutes of Health, which has independently awarded the money to researchers around the U.S., including some of the league’s biggest critics.

ON MESSAGE

As the NFL ramps up its safety messaging it can be difficult to tell where the league’s medical policy ends and its public relations campaign begins.

In February the NFL hired Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, president of Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston, to serve as chief medical adviser. One of her first recommendations: More communication, “so that the public can have a greater understanding of the concerns of the league and what the league is doing about health and safety issues.”

While the NFL talks up safety in the press, it has also been quietly talking to its most powerful potential critics: members of Congress. Just this week the NFL’s top lobbyist, Cynthia Hogan, met with House and Senate lawmakers on the NFL’s efforts to improve football safety. Hogan previously served as a top lawyer to Vice President Joe Biden.

In July, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell traveled to Washington to brief lawmakers. These closed-door meetings are decidedly lower-profile than Goodell’s last formal appearance on Capitol Hill. At a hearing in 2009, lawmakers grilled the commissioner over his refusal to acknowledge a link between head injuries and brain disease.

“I don’t think Goodell and the owners of the NFL have any choice but to address this issue – not because of political correctness – but because without changes we may very well lose this sport,” says Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., who co-chairs a congressional task force on brain injuries.

FOOTBALL’S FUTURE

If football is truly in danger then ground zero is Boston University, where researchers have identified a degenerative brain disease in 87 of 91 autopsied brains of deceased NFL players. Much is still unknown about the disease, called CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy. It is thought to begin before symptoms appear and involves a buildup of abnormal proteins in the brain that can cause memory loss, confusion and violent aggression.

A similar disease was found in boxers nearly a century ago, but CTE was identified in football players in 2002.

Several former NFL stars have been diagnosed with the disease, including Junior Seau, Dave Duerson and Ray Easterling, all had troubling symptoms and committed suicide. Currently CTE can only be diagnosed through a careful brain autopsy.

Dr. Robert Cantu says the link between head trauma and CTE is growing stronger by the day.

“Every single CTE case in the world’s literature – and more than 200 cases studied at BU since 2008 – has involved a history of repetitive brain injury. To me, that’s cause and effect. ” says Cantu, a Boston University neurologist and one of the world’s pre-eminent concussion experts.

In coming years, Cantu expects animal studies to unequivocally show that CTE is caused by repetitive hits to the head. Once that happens, it will be up to the NFL to decide how to manage the risk.

Cantu envisions a future when NFL players may sign informed consent waivers – much like those used in experimental medical research – acknowledging the health risks of the game and waiving certain legal rights. He believes football will ultimately survive, but the demographics of who plays it will change.

“I think you’re going to find that the overwhelming majority will come from a disadvantaged background,” he says. “The people that have other options in life are going to take them.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.csnbayarea.com/raiders/nfls-safety-campaign-includes-rule-changes-pr-effort