Appreciating the Gift of Good Health
It didn’t take long before I knew it would be a special day. This past Sunday morning I lined up to start the 5th running of the Run With Donna 1/2 Marathon in Jacksonville, FL. It was 29 degrees, windy, still dark and exciting when the 4500+ runners started the dash towards the bridge. All [...]
An NFL Athletic Trainer’s Life During the Off-Season
It’s been 184 days or 6 months since the very first NFL pre-season game when the Chargers hosted the Seahawks on August 11, 2011. Every week for the past 6 months we’ve had football every weekend ending with one of the most exciting Super Bowl games every played last weekend. “….Are you ready to miss [...]
High Ankle Sprain Management in the NFL
New England Patriots’ TE Rob Gronkowski’s ankle sure is getting a great deal of attention as we head into this weekend’s big Super Bowl matchup. Managing a high ankle sprain is not easy. Rehabbing a high ankle sprain requires a significant amount of experience. Managing this injury is a balance of properly stabilizing of the entire lower leg while assessing the athlete’s function prior to [...]
Injury Prevention Made Practical
I have 33 days to get ready for a 1/2 marathon, 13.1 miles. I’ll save you the details of my To Do List for the last 33 days but trust me when I say it was less than relaxing. Yesterday was my “Kick Myself in the Ass” day to do my first run of over [...]
Five (and 1/2) Lessons I Learned from Maurice Jones-Drew
This NFL season marked a milestone for me. With twenty-four years in the league, I’ve now spent half my life on the sidelines working in elite sports medicine. To say the least, the 2011-12 NFL season was a turbulent and fascinating one for the Jacksonville Jaguars. We fired our head coach, Jack DelRio, at mid-season. [...]
The Benefits of Running in Cold Weather [mademen.com]
<<<<< First of all, this is not me! I can hear you now: “What’s a guy from Florida know about running in cold weather?!” The answer: Too much. Growing up in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts and being an indoor/outdoor collegiate miler in Connecticut at a college with no indoor track, I’ve run thousands of [...]
The 100 Year Old Marathon Runner (not a typo)
I love this story on so many levels. From his amazing accomplishment to his funny T-shirt, this one will make you smile. Hopefully it makes you sit a bit taller and say to yourself “If this 100-year-old man can get out there and take on a challenge, so can I!” TORONTO (AP) — A 100-year-old [...]
Finishing Ironman…With a Fractured Pelvis
This week’s guest blog posts is from a very special athlete: Jessica Lane. She is all of about 105 lbs, but tougher than many professional athletes that I work with each week. With a dream of becoming an Ironman triathlete, Jessica asked me to help her manage her preparation for her first Ironman 6 weeks away….with a badly fractured pelvis. Trust me: I had the easy job. She endured tremendous pain just to experience what I call “the greatest 200 meters in sports” – finishing an 140+ mile Ironman with everyone cheering you! This is her story about persevering in the toughest of circumstances.
Youth Concussions: The Story of a Mom on a Mission
Introduced to The Difference Maker In April of 2010 I was speaking at the 7th annual Sports Related Conference on Concussion & Spine Injury at Fenway Park in my hometown of Boston, MA. I was thrilled to be sharing the speaking honors with the likes of Robert Cantu,MD, Arthur Day,MD, Micky Collins,MD and Ann McKee,MD, all [...]
5 Tips to Improve Your Swollen Knee
Knee swelling is a major concern for athletes young and old. Understanding their swollen knee is an important step to decreasing their pain and regaining their ability to be active & healthy. When it comes to knee swelling and pain, many view it as the “chicken or the egg dilemma”: “Is my knee pain creating [...]
