IN THE NEWS

The 2025 PFATS Hall of Fame class is composed of Ed Block, John Norwig, and Pepper Burruss. Together, these former PFATS members have devoted over a century to professional athletic training in the National Football League (NFL).

SC Featured takes an inside look at the Rams' emergency training and how it helped Raheem Morris save a young child's life.

John Norwig, the Steelers' head trainer since 1991, has officially announced his retirement, ending a long and successful career with the team.

On October 20, 2019, an EF3 tornado touched down near Dallas, becoming the costliest tornado event in Texas history. After it devastated his alma mater, Thomas Jefferson High School, Greg Gaither, Assistant Athletic Trainer for the Dallas Cowboys, used his platform as the 2022 Tim Davey Assistant Athletic Trainer of the Year to help them rebuild.

Hamstring injuries are one of the most common injuries plaguing professional football players. Assistant Athletic Trainer for the New York Giants, Mike Baum, MA, ATC, joins the Enovis™ Recovery Sciences Clinical Education team for a panel discussion on methods now being used to prevent hamstring injuries as well as how to treat them effectively once they occur.

When NFL players take the field on game day, there is a comprehensive operation happening behind the scenes focused on one thing: providing those players with the best possible care. At each NFL game, there is a team of more than 30 medical professionals working to ensure the health and safety of the athletes.

The NFL, PFATS, and the NFLPS have partnered with HBCU medical schools to begin an initiative to expose prospective physicians to sports medicine in the NFL. This Diversity in Sports Medicine Pipeline Initiative is in its first year, and attached is a video from FOX NFL discussing the positive impacts of diversity in the sports medicine setting within the NFL. 

Sports Medicine Concepts presents PFATShares, a collaboration between SMC and PFATS. In this feature segment, Mike Cendoma and Joe O’Pella (Associate Athletic Trainer at the Philadelphia Eagles) discuss how athletic trainers can plan to meet best practice critical care benchmarks without all the resources afforded PFATS members providing care for professional football players.

Barnes has been with the Giants organization since 1976 and the team's head athletic trainer since 1980. He was promoted to the position of Vice President of Medical Services in 2003 and to Senior Vice President in 2011. During his 47 seasons with the team, Barnes has treated, counseled and befriended hundreds of players, coaches and staffers.