The door to the training room continually swings open, and a constant flow of barefooted football players scamper in before a Thursday practice looking for the athletic trainers.

For an hour the athletic trainers tape ankles, examine injuries, monitor electrical muscle stimulation and stretch players in the pool.

It”s a regular day for the athletic trainers, who rotate between evaluating, treating, preventing and rehabilitating the players” injuries.

‘Athletic training is a lot more than tape and Band-Aids,’ said Tory Lindley, Northwestern”s director of sports medicine. ‘It”s the ultimate mix of athletics and medicine.’

Lindley, and trainers Melissa Wuelser and Paul Diaz each care for the players more than 12 hours a day each, and do everything except give IVs, prescription drugs, injections and stitches.

With a yearly budget of more than half a million dollars — $80,000 alone is spent on tape — NU”s eight athletic trainers help all NU athletes prevent injury and get back into the game, Lindley said.

‘I tell the kids that this is the best health care they will ever receive,’ said Lindley, who came to NU in 2002 from Eastern Michigan.

If not the best care, at least the most personalized. Lindley and the other athletic trainers can not only can recite each player”s injuries, but know when some of them met their girlfriends” parents or what they got on the MCAT.

Lindley warns the players about how much time they have before meetings so they aren”t late, and he tips off players about what to expect at practice. And it”s not just at NU.

‘Good athletic trainers are worth their weight in gold,’ Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. ‘The intangibles that a good training staff can give your program are so important.’

TAKIN” A LOOK

As Lindley describes the role of athletic trainers, various college football helmets sit on the shelves behind him and several framed degrees hang on the wall above his desk.

With their medical backgrounds and close contact with the players, athletic trainers run the health care for a team and coordinate all medical activities with doctors and coaches.

‘They hold a higher place in the medical structure than the doctor for a football tea,’ said Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo, who joked he was biased since he is married to an athletic trainer. ‘They”re critical because they are the gobetween, between the athletes and the doctors.’

Each of NU”s eight athletic trainers has a bachelor”s and master”s degree in fields relating to sports medicine, and all athletic trainers must pass the National Athletic Trainers” Association Board of Certification Exam.

With this education athletic trainers are qualified to make initial evaluations on even the most serious injuries, such as concussions.

A doctor attends each NU game and examines players on Sundays and four nights per week, but it”s the athletic trainer who determines when a player needs to see the physician, arranges for players to meet with medical specialist and schedules procedures such as MRIs.

Every player who enters the game reports on Sunday for an evaluation with Lindley, who describes it as a ‘M.A.S.H.-like environment.’ Lindley said about half of the 60 players usually have at least a bruise, soreness or a strain.

‘I tell them I”m their mom, dad, uncle or whoever they told about their injuries in the past,’ said Lindley. ‘It”s no good to tell their mom their ankle hurts. They need to tell us and they need to develop trust with us.’

The athletic trainers document every issue with a computer program all Big Ten schools utilize, and Lindley said he spends at least an hour each day recording injuries. He also communicates all these injuries to the coaches.

Players with any issue must report to the training room — located across from the locker room — at 7:30 a.m. each day so Lindley can evaluate them before meeting with the coaches.

Lindley said he spends the first 10 minutes of the coaches” daily meeting telling them which players can”t practice and what drills players can”t participate in that day.

‘(Director of Athletics) Mark Murphy tells coaches that the athletic trainers have the final word and they can never supersede that or they will not work here,’ Lindley said.

PAIN KILLERS

Kunle Patrick lies on a medical bench in the center of the room while a small machine next to him sends electricity to his sore thigh muscles.

The wide receiver bruised the muscles two weeks ago against Indiana and this was one of many daily treatments designed to get him prepared for Wisconsin. But Patrick was just one of several players working with the athletic trainers to get back on the field.

‘Without the athletic trainers I wouldn”t ever be able to play the next week,’ running back Jason Wright said. ‘The natural healing process just doesn”t work fast enough.’

In addition to electrical stimulation, Wright said he soothes muscle pains by sitting in the 45-degree cold tub and 106-degree whirlpool.

Wright said he also never misses a chance to visit with the massage therapist who works with the team a couple of times each week.

‘I get a chance every week from Saturday at 4 p.m. to next Saturday at 11 a.m. to get them on the field,’ Lindley said. ‘It”s satisfying to see the same kid you carried off the field against Iowa score a touchdown next week against Michigan State.’

Lindley requires that injured players come at least twice a day for hour-long treatments, but he said ideally a player could receive aid four times a day — before class, between classes, before practice and after practice.

The treatment after practice usually involves heavy icing, and Lindley estimated the team uses more than 90 ice bags after each practice.

But despite all the soreness and bruises, Lindley said most of the players still practice.

‘It”s like the old saying: You”ve got to learn the difference between pain and injury,’ coach Walker said. ‘You can play with pain, but we won”t let you play with injury.’

Walker said injuries have always been a part of the sport and he wouldn”t have been able to play in college without the athletic trainers.

‘The technology is so much better now than when I played and there are so many more avenues athletic trainers have to try to get the athlete back on the field,’ said Murphy, who played for the Washington Redskins from 1977 to “85. ‘The staffing has increased pretty dramatically. Most NFL teams back than had one athletic trainer and an assistant. Now there are three to four athletic trainers per team.’

THE BUCK STOPS HERE

As the clock strikes 2:30 p.m., the players vacate the training room. In their wake rolls of used tape lie scattered on the ground. The athletic trainers taped up more than 30 players in half an hour, and it got so busy one freshman started taping his own ankle before an athletic trainer came over to do it properly.

Lindley estimated that NU uses between 100 and 150 rolls of tape before each football game because all the players are required to either have their ankles taped or wear a brace. NU”s ankle policy is similar to other Big Ten programs, but its knee-brace policy is more extensive, Lindley said.

The Wildcats” offensive and defensive linemen are required to wear knee braces, and linebackers have to use them at practice. At Wisconsin, only offensive linemen are required to wear knee braces.

NU has invested more than a $100,000 in protecting the knees of more than 40 players at those three positions because each pair of custom braces — which the player receives at the start of his NU career — costs about $2,400.

Several players said they don”t like the braces because they are cumbersome, but Lindley said they are worth the money and effort.

‘I”ve had four occasions in games when a player has come off and said, “If I didn”t have a brace I would have just blown out my knee,”‘ Lindley said. ‘If Pat Durr was wearing a brace last year (when he tore his anterior
cruciate ligament) it would have absolutely prevented his injury.’

To prevent serious injuries the athletic trainers closely monitor the players” hydration levels, and Lindley estimated that the team drinks 120 gallons of fluids each practice during August and September. But Lindley said the three football athletic trainers wouldn”t be able to get the players all of the Gatorade and water they need without the help of student volunteers.

Lindley has about 20 students working as sports medicine aides for all of NU”s sports. The aides help with taping and stretching, and set up all the water and equipment for practice. Lindley said any pre-med or pre-physical therapy student could volunteer, and NU and Minnesota are the only schools in the Big Ten without degree programs for athletic training.

‘It takes eight sports medicine aides to run a practice,’ Lindley said. ‘Without them it wouldn”t happen.’

THE LONG ROAD BACK

Ashton Aikens was the only player in the training room. Practice didn”t start for another three hours and most of the players were probably finishing lunch.

But Aikens, who damaged his ACL against Minnesota, slowly practiced bending and straightening his knee in the whirlpool. Aikens was scheduled to have surgery that morning, but he said the knee was still too swollen.

‘It”s going to be long, but I think I will make it through it with discipline,’ said Aikens, while slowly riding an exercise bike. ‘I don”t like being here, but since I”m here I might as well make the best of it.’

Aikens will spend three to four hours each day for the next six to nine months working with athletic trainer Wuelser and athletic trainer-physical therapist Aimee Miltenberger.

The two will work with him individually each day on various exercises and stretches to regain his range of motion and strength.

Lindley said the next time the injured wide receiver runs it won”t be a slant route, but a slow jog on the treadmill in the pool.

‘A lot of rehab is creativity and there is no rehab cookbook,’ Lindley said. ‘It”s up to the imagination of the athletic trainer.’

Safety Louis Ayeni understands the challenge of coming back from injuries.

Lindley joked that Ayeni”s medical file was 3 inches thick. The safety has missed more than 20 games with hip, ankle and neck injuries during his career, including a stinger that has sidelined him the past six games.

‘I”ve spent so much time here, I should be on staff,’ Ayeni said. ‘I should be getting paid.

‘But I”m grateful to deal with people that really care. They give you a chance to vent when you need to and they will give you pep talks when you need it.’

Last week Ayeni strolled through the training room saying hello to the athletic trainers and sports medicine aides. Ayeni talked with Patrick while he received treatment, but on that day the safety only needed his ankle taped.

Ayeni will play Saturday for the first time in seven weeks, but the fifth-year senior said he wouldn”t forget those who made it possible.

‘I want to do good for them,’ Ayeni said. ‘I want make all of their hard work pay off. No way would I be on the field without them. I”d be done.’