34 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {punchline} there can be a sprain, which you just can’t tell on exam. And sometimes, in the heat of the moment, players don’t feel pain like they might later. The adrenaline kicks in and so we really have to err on the side of caution.” In other words, Tim’s job sometimes means protecting players from themselves. “They want to play,” he continues, “but they will appreciate it later on when you make a call that’s based on true medical judgment.” Tim, who currently serves as president of the NFL Physician Society, must also keep his cool knowing how much is on the line. “In the NFL, where there’s 16 or 17 regular season games, your decision to return Well-versed in the language of bones and joints, Stanford orthopedic surgeon Timothy McAdams listens closely to the human body. As head team physician and orthopedic surgeon for the San Francisco 49ers, he’s also tackled countless critical calls for his team over the last 16 seasons. “That’s been both the most fun and the most stressful part of my job,” the Los Altos Hills resident says of return-to-play decisions on game day. There’s the obvious calls, sure. A slight tweak like a knee sprain where everything’s still stable gets the green light, while a complete ligament injury is clearly a no-go. “The challenging part is sometimes it’s in-between,” Tim explains. “Sometimes a player to the game is very important,” he notes. “In major league baseball, there’s hundreds of games… You can just remove the player from the game, see the physician later on and then decide from there because missing one game isn’t as bad. But in football, it has a huge impact.” Behind the football pros you see taking the field is a small army of caregivers. Every NFL team requires two orthopedic surgeons, a medical physician, a head athletic trainer and their assistant athletic trainers, a physical therapist, a sports performance specialist, a strength and conditioning specialist, a nutritionist and various other
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