CHARGER ’86 PREVIEW : Trainer’s Job: More Than Taping Ankles

Mark Howard, head athletic trainer for the Chargers, grimaces a little when he hears someone suggest that a trainer’s main duty is to apply yards of tape to fragile ankles.

Howard admits that this sticky task does take up about 20% of his time, but says that being a trainer also means knowing about medicine, physical therapy, record keeping and sports medicine’s own brand of bedside manner.

A decade ago, a trainer in the National Football League was a rubdown man who administered a little first aid, said Howard, 29, who was named the Chargers’ head trainer last March and is the youngest head trainer in the NFL.

Nowadays, trainers are a team’s main medical personnel. The Chargers have a staff of team doctors to handle serious injuries, but Howard and his three assistants regularly treat players, coaches and nearly anyone else who needs minor medical assistance.

“We handle all medical aspects, from the owner down to the ball boys,” said Howard, who recently treated owner Alex Spanos’ back. “Everyone comes to the trainer because the trainer is in the heart of the operation. . . . He sees everybody and knows everybody.”

Howard has been with the Chargers for eight years. He took over the top training duties midway through last season when Rick MacDonald, then the Chargers’ head trainer, became ill. MacDonald moved to the front office this season as players’ insurance coordinator.

Said Coach Don Coryell: “When the opportunity came (during the off-season) to pick a new trainer, we didn’t think of looking any further. . . . Mark was our man.

“Having a good trainer is immensely important to a team, and Mark is a very dedicated person.”

Quarterback Dan Fouts can attest to that.

When Fouts injured his right knee in the opening minutes of last year’s 21-7 loss to Cleveland in the fourth game of the season, it was believed that he would be out for the year.

But Howard, working with team physician Gary Losse--who performed arthroscopic surgery on the knee--placed Fouts in a removable, hinged brace that enabled the injured area to make quicker movements.

The brace allowed Fouts to rehabilitate the knee through a process known as continuous passive motion, which is normally associated with joint-replacement therapy. It was the first time the process had been used in sports, Howard said.

Three games later, Fouts was playing.

“If it wasn’t for Mark Howard, I wouldn’t be playing football right now,” Fouts said. “He has put me back together every time.”

Another knee injury initially aroused Howard’s medical interest. At 13, he hurt his knee in a Pop Warner football game in San Diego’s north county, where he grew up.

Howard’s doctor said the injury would permanently keep him from participating in sports. While undergoing his rehabilitation, he became intrigued by the work of the people treating him. As a student at San Dieguito High School, Howard observed the school’s trainer at work and helped tape athletes.

After high school, he was a pre-med student at UC San Diego. He eventually graduated from San Diego State with a degree in physical education and certification in sports medicine. The first year the Chargers trained at UCSD, Howard, then 17, talked his way into helping out in the training room. That year, he picked up towels, ran the whirlpools and occasionally did some taping.

Now, Howard is in control of the training room.

Besides applying medical know-how to his job, Howard must also develop a solid professional relationship with each player, as well as earn the player’s trust.

“Football players are human, too,” he said. “It’s frustrating when you are one of the best at what you do and you can’t play because of an injury. A good trainer has to be able to help the players through the hard times.

“You have to know how to react in certain situations. You have to know when to praise a guy, or when to get down on him a little harder.”

During training camp, Howard’s day begins at 5:30 with preparation of the different pads and wraps that he or a staff member has custom made for individual players. His day normally ends with the 10 p.m. coaches’ meeting, where he offers advice on the status of injured players.

But trainers are on-call 24 hours.

“Training camp is tough for the trainers because you have no free time,” Howard said. “Our only free time is when we break for meals.”