38 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {punchline} cus, but it’s the most calm I am at anything.” Furthermore, “I have control of my environment, my situation, I’ve done everything so many times… I can get into the zone.” And it’s what he’ll miss the most when he retires someday. “It is such a privilege and a joy to meet somebody and know that they’re trusting me while they’re asleep to do something to fix them so that they can thrive in their life the way they desire to. That’s a real privilege.” That special bond between physician and player carries back to the stadium. “Players have come up to me after the lights have gone down, after everyone’s gone home, and they tell me how much they appreciated the care that I gave them during a certain game and looked out for them,” he describes with feeling. Good call, Tim. Good call. tion unfold in slow-mo to figure out how the injury occurred. Having that mechanism for review is a real game-changer. In the past, “you could see a lot of injuries better sitting on your couch than I could from the sideline,” describes Tim. “And people would say, ‘Why did you put that person back in? I could see that the knee hyperextended.’ Now with all these video systems, you can replay it from every angle and really get a good idea of how significant the injury is.” But for Tim, the most rewarding part of the job isn’t on the field—it’s in the operating room. “Surgery is what every orthopedic surgeon will tell you they enjoy the most,” Tim says. “It really is my comfort zone. People ask me if I get anxious or nervous for surgeries. There’s a heightened fo-
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