Though largely behind the scenes, USC’s athletic medicine staff continues to help heal injured players in remarkable fashion
By Ben Malcolmson
USCRipsIt
PeteCarroll.com
Barring unexpected turns, Mark Sanchez will be the Trojans’ quarterback in Saturday’s season opener at Virginia.
Only 22 days after dislocating his kneecap, Sanchez will play thanks to an incredibly quick recovery.
But he didn’t do it alone.
Somewhere on that Scott Stadium sideline and across L.A., a select group of people will be cheering, even if they aren’t getting the proper credit for what they’re cheering for.
USC football’s athletic medicine staff — headed by Russ Romano, assisted by Paul Diaz, Chris Grosskopf and John Meyer, and backed by a team of more than 20 specialized doctors and surgeons — played an instrumental part in Sanchez’s rapid recuperation, along with bringing the rest of the team to a point Coach Pete Carroll calls the “most healthy we’ve ever been at this point of the season.”
But it’s not like many will notice. Even so, the athletic medicine staffers get their appreciation from seeing a healed player return to work.
“It’s thrilling when you remember when a guy was injured and we work together to get him better to perform in a game, and in a way, we’re a part of that success on a Saturday,” said Romano, the head athletic trainer and USC’s assistant athletic director for sports medicine. “You share in the pain when the athlete is down and now you’re sharing in the success.”
And what a sense of accomplishment they’ll be feeling in Charlottesville on Saturday when Sanchez takes the field. But, Romano says, the athletic trainers are just a part of the bigger picture.
“We don’t heal people, we help them heal,” said Romano, who always insists on giving credit to the player for his will and perseverance in overcoming an injury, something that empowers and gives confidence to an athlete. “We don’t get that kind of credit. We’re not magical healers.”
Maybe not, but the athletic medicine staff at USC has done some remarkable things in recent history. Besides Sanchez, several other players have bounced back from injury in almost unbelievable fashion in the past few weeks and seasons. Even with the victories, it’s an ongoing battle for the athletic medicine staff.
“You can never relax; there’s so much unknown,” Romano said. “It’s a revolving door — one athlete gets healthy and someone else comes in. For us, it’s not discouraging, it’s challenging.”
But that’s what makes the job fun and fulfilling. Romano calls his profession just as much of an art as a science because of the air of mystery with every case.
“It always changes, and that keeps it interesting,” Romano said. “You need to do it better than before.”
It’s a motto that Carroll preaches, and one he sees being lived out in the athletic training room on a daily basis.
“What the athletic training staff does for our players is remarkable,” Carroll said. “Their selfless work puts our athletes back on the field in tremendous shape and in great time, and we have great faith in them because of the results they’ve produced.”
With the nature of football, injuries are a given. At any one time, the coaches’ daily injury report can be longer than the practice script, with everything from bruises to broken bones to infections. It’s a constant crusade that marches on in the athletic training room fittingly bunkered in the basement of Heritage Hall.
“You’re going to have injuries,” Romano said. “It’s now a matter of how you’re going to get people better.”
Assistant athletic trainers Paul Diaz and Chris Grosskopf split the offensive and defensive players, caring for injuries with methods that include ice and electric stimulation, stretching and rehab plans.
Director of rehabilitation John Meyer, who has a Ph.D. and had his own physical therapy practice for four years before joining the staff at USC, takes charge of the larger-scale recoveries, including Sanchez’s, by leading the athlete through various weightlifting, stretching and flexibility exercises to promote healing. Carroll profusely praises Meyer's work with injured players, saying Meyer has "been instrumental to our success."
“You understand their value when you’re hurt,” said Sanchez, who spent several hours a day with the athletic trainers during his recovery from a dislocated kneecap on Aug. 8. “The relationships you form through the rehab process help you through because of the trust you build with them.
“There’s really no price tag on their help.”
Romano says he and his staff treat each athlete as if they were a family member, and that includes everything from a selfless care for the athlete and a tight-lipped privacy policy regarding injuries with the media.
“Privacy is important to us,” Romano said. “Coach Carroll is the mouthpiece for all the injuries.”
That unique care fosters a trust and bond among the players and athletic trainers that’s strengthened even more through the healing process and a simple act of gratitude in the end — something that goes a long way for a staff who’s “not too worried about getting credit,” Romano said.
“A ‘thank you’ from an athlete means a lot more to us than credit in the newspaper,” Romano said. “And your thanks is witnessing the end result and seeing someone do well.
“And we’re quite OK with that.”
Injury prevention is another key element to the team’s health. Taping ankles (Romano, Diaz and Grosskopf tape about 50 players’ ankles before each practice), knee braces, stretching programs and even a full-time nutritionist are on hand to help the players avoid injuries.
“We do everything we can to prevent injuries,” Romano said.
USC’s athletic medicine department is a web of licensed athletic trainers, rehabilitation specialists, doctors that cover every area of expertise and a crew of student athletic trainers. To say the least, keeping an athlete healthy and bringing a player back from an injury is a group effort.
“It’s a team approach, and that’s what benefits the athlete,” Romano said.
The team’s more than 20 doctors, who form the core group of consultants and surgeons for the Trojans’ injuries, are some of the leading experts in every field from dental health to orthopedic to chiropractic.
“They’re the guys you need access to when something’s wrong,” Romano said. “They’re first-class doctors and very accessible.”
Then there are the 10 student athletic trainers who help with hydration, basic first aid and basic taping.
“They’re really important to us,” Romano said of the student athletic trainers. “They free us up to do our jobs.”
And what a job they do. They all do.
“We just try to be the best we can be,” Romano said. “Even though something might not go as planned, you know you did your best, and that’s success.”
• Ben Malcolmson is the Director of Online Media for USCRipsIt/PeteCarroll.com. You can contact him at Ben@PeteCarroll.com.
