Kim Terrell understands the exasperation of Duck fans this football season.
“I think that the number of season-ending injuries has definitely been high, even if you average over long periods of time,” she said. “For them to be lost for the whole season, especially on the offensive side of the ball, we’ve been really devastated.”
Terrell is an associate director of athletic medicine for the University, overseeing a staff of seven personal trainers and nine graduate students who assist Oregon’s student-athletes. The athletic training staff’s mettle has been tested along with that of the football team in Terrell’s fifth year in the position, with 13 Ducks missing time because of significant injuries, including six season-ending injuries. Senior quarterback Dennis Dixon and junior running back Jeremiah Johnson are among those who are lost for the remainder of the year.
“We’ve had several injuries this year, especially ACLs,” said Kat Kaihoi, one of four graduate assistants working with the football team. “For us, tearing your ACL means six months of rehab. The workload on ACLs is pretty high for us.”
The ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament, is one of four ligaments in the knee that holds together the upper and lower leg bones. Dixon, Johnson, senior free safety Ryan DePalo, senior wide receiver Brian Paysinger, senior linebacker John Bacon and sophomore quarterback Nathan Costa all suffered an ACL tear this season – a serious injury that requires four to sixth months of rehabilitation for full recovery. The amount of ACL tears has raised the eyebrows of the training staff, although no consistencies have been identified in how the athletes were injured.
“Any time you see a high number of a particular type of injury, the athletic training staff always looks at why,” Terrell said. “Six in one season would still be a really high number to have in one year. Six in one season for any sport, even if you combined all our sports altogether…it is really off the scale.”
The rigorous rehabilitation involved – improving the range of motion, flexibility and strength of the knee to previous levels – isn’t the only hurdle facing the training staff. As the season-ending injuries mount, they take a psychological toll on the hurt players.
“The effects of this are universal. We are working with the athletes every day, trying to deal with the mental/emotional side of getting injured, which is pretty devastating for someone to have their career end with an injury,” Terrell said. “It’s unexpected, it’s frightening, it’s anxiety-provoking. It does take a long time.”
For all the challenges associated with rehabilitation after serious injuries, the Oregon training staff has a weapon in the Casanova Center’s newly-remodeled training center. The state-of-the-art facility, funded by Phil and Penny Knight, added over 10,000 square feet of space containing hot and cold water tubs, full-body X-ray machines, equipment for oral and optical exams and underwater treadmills.
The underwater treadmills have proven useful in the midst of Oregon’s recent rash of leg, knee and ankle injuries. Running in the water places less stress on the legs of the injured athletes while allowing them to retain their running form. The treadmills and other pools located within the treatment center allow the training staff room for innovative rehab methods, Kaihoi said.
DePalo can be counted among the early success stories of the facility. After tearing his ACL in the spring, DePalo’s rehab efforts in the training center enabled him to be in playing shape for the September 1 opener against Houston.
“I could attribute some of my recovery (to the facility) because of the underwater treadmills which helped out a lot with the running,” DePalo told the Emerald in September. “I could run without any weight on my legs. It sped some stuff up and it helped with my confidence.”
Yet, for all the bells and whistles, the most important quality of the treatment center might be sheer size.
“We’ve got a lot more space for treatment, so we’ve got a lot more opportunities and room and space to handle the numbers (of injured athletes),” said Terrell.
The training staff has grown to appreciate the plethora of workspace as the workload increases.
“The space is incredible,” said Kaihoi. “I know last year they felt very cramped with the number of athletes they had and the square footage.”
“We’ve been so fortunate to have a great facility that makes work a little bit easier.”
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