Getting a Rush From Lives of Pains, Gains : Chiropractors’ Torture Pays Off for 49ers’ Craig

The National Football League’s leading masochist and second-leading rusher, Roger Craig of the San Francisco 49ers, is feeling better than ever these days, which can’t be good news for the Rams, who will see him Sunday evening at Candlestick Park.

You think Craig is going to be bothered by, say, a Jerry Gray tackle, when earlier this week a massage therapist was digging her knees into Craig’s bruised calf muscles? To hear the massage therapist talk, he won’t.

“I know some of the work I do on him is painful,” said Jennie Winter, who attends to Craig’s many aches anywhere from one to five times a week. “But I believe Roger would put himself through anything if he thought it would make him better. He would go through any amount of pain to play better.”

That explains those visits to Don Sanchez, a chiropractor who, according to a recent Sports Illustrated story, coats Craig with a brew made from 275 herbs and then begins kneading his muscles as if they were pizza dough.

With the memory of past visits to the good doctor still fresh in his mind, Craig couldn’t care less about slamming into a Ram defensive line. You wouldn’t, either, if you required three of Sanchez’s assistants to hold you down during a deep muscle tissue session, as occasionally Craig does.

And don’t forget Craig’s other chiropractor, the more gentle Nick Athens, who specializes in the extremities--shoulders, neck, hands, knees, ankles. Sometimes a visit with Athens sounds like a carnival shooting gallery, what with all the cracking and popping of Craig’s joints and such. But if nothing else, Craig leaves Athens’ San Carlos office feeling almost sprightly, which is nice, considering the amount of abuse he takes in each game.

“With Roger, it’s like getting one major rear-ender at 15 to 20 m.p.h.” Athens said. “He gets that type of shot to the spine, like a whiplash injury.”

Said Winter: “It’s like he was in a barroom brawl. I think the average person would have a lot of trouble just getting out of bed.”

Take a look at Craig and his uniform after a game. His helmet looks as if someone took it out and dribbled it down the driveway. His pants and elbow pads are specked with blood, mostly his own. He grimaces when he takes off his specially designed shoulder pads. Oversized thigh pads protect the outside of his upper legs. Sort of.

Tape decorates six of his fingers, one hand, and both wrists and ankles. You have to look twice to see if those heavy black lines under his eyes are shiners or shoe polish. (It’s shoe polish--it cuts down on the glare of the sun.)

And that’s just on the outside of Craig. Wait until those welts form, or those deep, dark bruises make themselves known. Then it’s time for Winter’s probing hands, or Sanchez’s mysterious herbal concoction, or Athens’ tugging, pulling and aligning of vertebrae and whatnot. And though the sessions hurt--a lot--Craig doesn’t seem to mind. In his own, odd way, he, well, enjoys the pain. The philosophy is this: suffer on the rubdown table, prosper on the field.

“I feel great this time of the year,” said Craig, who is 28. “It’s really strange--it’s the 16th game and it doesn’t feel like it. Mentally, I’m fresh. My body feels fresh. I’m not getting banged up. I got this little cut on my arm after last week, but that’s the only thing that really bothered me. Other than that, I’ve been feeling good.”

And looking good, too. Earlier this week, his NFL peers again selected him for a Pro Bowl team. Meanwhile, his teammates selected him as this season’s co-winner of the 49ers’ most inspirational player award. Now if someone can only figure out if he was chosen because of his 1,451 rushing yards or those once-a-week trips to Sanchez’s place.

Craig trails only Eric Dickerson (1,493) for the rushing title. But although Dickerson averages an admirable 4.2 yards per carry for the Indianapolis Colts, Craig checks in with a 4.9-yard average, which means almost half a first down every time he takes a handoff.

And get this: Craig’s 73 receptions are more than teammate and Pro Bowl wide receiver Jerry Rice and only 8 fewer than the conference leaders. All this from the man who supposedly had lost a step (which one?), who wasn’t suited to be a halfback, who took too much punishment.

“They thought I was burnt out because of the year I had 1,000-1,000 (rushing and receiving yardage) 3 years ago,” Craig said. “What happened was that I got hurt at the end of the season, so I went through the last couple games kind of banged up. They thought I was burnt out from the year, but I wasn’t. That’s the way it goes sometimes--people don’t remember your last games.”

The Rams do. And just in case there are a few fuzzy moments, Ram coaches dimmed the lights long enough this week to show another screening of “Roger Does Anaheim,” the horror flick in which Craig rushes for 190 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Rams’ 24-21 loss Oct. 16. That was the game in which Craig, in knee-pumping splendor, made Ram would-be tacklers look like mannequins. It was a memorable sight, especially for the Rams.

“He’s really the ultimate as a ballcarrier, in terms of effort,” said Fritz Shurmur, the Ram defensive coordinator. “He’s going to make you play until the whistle blows.”

Added Gray: “He’s probably an Eric Dickerson, not with the size or the speed, and Walter Payton put together. Walter Payton knew he wasn’t going to outrun you up the field, but he would try to punish you at the end. Roger Craig is basically like that.”

Gray said the Rams would like to teach Craig a lesson Sunday. “Let him know, hey, he’s the ballcarrier and there’s going to be 11 guys after Roger Craig.”

Oh, he knows, all right. He has the bumps and bruises to prove it. What Craig doesn’t know is how to stop. At the moment, he’s at 1,451 yards . . . and counting.