PRINTThe Price of Playing
The cost of being part of the team isn't monetary — unless you count the doctor's bills
Esten Hurtle
Junior defensive back Carl Gettis is examined by Mizzou’s athletic training staff during this year’s football game against Nebraska.
October 22, 2009 | 12:00 a.m. CST
New Mizzou football players receive many perks when they make the final cut, including a 15,000-square-foot training facility and adoration from thousands of fans. But along with ecstatic football lovers, better food and academic tutors comes plenty of physical pain and season-stopping — or career-shattering — injuries.
Missouri linebacker Luke Lambert attempted to conquer pain after hurting his ankle in the Bowling Green game, but it eventually got the best of him. “I felt like someone stole something from me,” Lambert said in an e-mail. “To work hard all spring and summer for the season and then having to miss games is hard for an athlete.”
For the love of the game
MU fans are full of spirit and pride, but that Mizzou love can sometimes get out of hand. And when it does, emergency medical technicians calm the chaos.
Eric Mills, assistant manager for MU Health Care’s ambulance service, says there are 24 to 28 staff members available during an average game. Inside and outside the stadium, EMTs deal with all kinds of spectator injuries. Matt Splett, media coordinator for MU Health Care, says technicians generally see smaller problems during game day, such as twisted ankles and overexposure to heat.
EMTs see everything, Mills says — fractured ankles, wrist injuries and asthma problems. “With MU’s large alumni population who return for the games, we also see cardiovascular and heart disease issues,” he says.
Fans who drink a little too much before games are in luck. “EMTs don’t determine what caused the injury or if it is alcohol-related,” Mills says. “They don’t judge the issues and are just concerned with taking care of the problem at hand.” If the patient requires more care, he or she makes a trip to the ER. “If they feel that the patient has a time-critical injury, then he or she will automatically be taken to the ER of his or her choice,” Mills says.
Because many off-field injuries are easy to prevent, Splett advises: “Be responsible when you’re outside. If it’s hot, seek shade, drink plenty of fluids, limit your alcohol consumption, and know your surroundings.”
- Score! Who won it, 2002 to 2008
- Game Day Guide
- The visor
- The tailgating zoo
- Hey buddy, you're in my seat
- Know your enemy
- Letting 'em out of their cages and corrals
- Stat Showdown
- Game Day Whereabouts
- Remember the Tigers
- Studying the stereotype
- Censorship Uncensored
- And the winner is...
- Endzone ensembles
- I'm with the band
- Supporting Cast
- Prep and pride off the field
- An Obituary for the beloved Reactor
- The Lost, the Found and the Confiscated
- Columbia's Hangover
- Play by play
- Mo' Money
- Makin' Bank
- Tiger Watch Party
- Uniformology
Lambert isn’t the only one. Assistant athletic trainer Casey Hairston says the team deals with three new injuries per day on average, or 60 to 100 per season among the 117 players. Ranging from sprained thumbs to torn ACLs, Hairston sees it all. But some injuries keep coming back to haunt the athletes. “The most common injury changes every year, but this year it is ankle injuries,” Hairston says.
The type of trauma depends on the position played. Because a defensive player repeatedly leaps into body-smashing tackles and blocks, he experiences more shoulder problems. Offensive players frequently deal with leg and shoulder injuries from consistently being tackled, Hairston says.
Regardless of the injury, a football game is similar to a gladiator battle scene — brutal and ruthless. “Everyone knows the nature of the game is physical and people get hurt,” Lambert says.
Even with help, every Tiger needs time to lick his wounds. Injured players normally need six to eight weeks to recover, Hairston says.
When the player is ready for his return to the weight room, strength and conditioning coaches help maneuver around the injury during workouts, adds Pat Ivey, an assistant athletic trainer for athletic performance.
As soon as the player is healthy enough to complete specific drills in practice, he can return to the Zou. “They may still have pain, but they are ready if they are able to move a complete range of motion and have adequate strength,” Hairston says.
Completely preventing injuries from happening is impossible, but athletic trainers do their best by promoting hydration, proper nutrition, appropriate off-season lifting programs, properly fitted equipment, bracing and taping.
The daunting workout routine changes depending on the time of the season, but Ivey says that during the season players lift weights for two or three one-hour sessions a week while also practicing three days a week.
As the week progresses, the focus of each session changes. “On Sundays, the primary focus is recovery, regeneration and then strength maintenance,” Ivey says. “We work on mobility, flexibility, range of motion, increasing blood flow and stretching.”
Wednesdays emphasize core training with total-body work and upper-body strength maintenance, and Fridays are all about shoulder maintenance, Ivey says.
Director of Sports Nutrition Jana Heitmeyer says a player’s diet determines how well he is able to excel and avoid injuries. “They can’t afford to skip breakfast or eat McDonald’s all the time because it will effect them much faster than a normal person,” she says. “It is more important for them to eat healthy because their body is under more stress.”
Still, the Tigers can eat as many Twinkies (or Jayhawks) as they want, as long as it is in moderation. “We provide them with a variety of food in the dining hall, and it’s up to them to make the choices,” Heitmeyer says. “We’re not there to hold their hands.”
In spite of all this, players still get hurt. The infamous cortisone shot, an injection that relieves inflammation for problematic injuries, is a source of conflict between players and trainers.
Hairston says the Mizzou football team’s drug of choice is Tylenol or Advil. “We only use (cortisone shots) for a chronic type of condition,” Hairston says. “Their use is over-portrayed in the media. We have maybe used one in the last four years.” According to Hairston, the one shot was given to a walk-on for a knee injury.
But Lambert says he was given a cortisone shot before a game at MU for a sprained ankle. “It dulls the pain — doesn’t necessarily take the pain away,” he said.
Cortisone or not, these cubs are well-tended in the Tiger’s Lair.
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