Sug

Brad Childress hired some great people when he was named the Vikings head coach in 2006. Brad Childress is no longer the Vikings head coach, so those people are his greatest legacy, certainly his most lasting. Athletic trainers are usually anonymous members of football teams, but they are critical to the success of every team. Eric Sugarman, affectionately known as Sug, has excelled at getting the Vikings players healthy and keeping them healthy. Childress was the offensive coordinator with the Eagles when he encountered the skills of the teams little assistant athletic trainer. As soon as Childress got a head coaching gig, he grabbed Sug.

A trainer is defined by his success in getting players back on the field, and staying on the field. Sugarman has been incredible in that capacity. Knee injuries are football killers. Even with advances in medicine, a torn ACL is a lost year. In Sugarman's first year, linebacker and 1st round pick, Chad Greenway, tore his ACL before he had even played a regular season game. Fellow linebacker and special teams star, Heath Farwell, suffered the same injury a year later. Both returned strong and in much less than a year. Farwell made the Pro Bowl the year after. Greenway should have and has become one of the best linebackers in the league. Cornerback Cedric Griffen tore his ACL on the overtime kick off in the 2009 NFC Championship game. He was ready by training camp and playing better than ever. Unfortunately, he tore the other knee in the fourth game. The injury was another blow in an increasingly forgettable season. With Griffen's work ethic and Sugarman's guidance, I have no worries about Griffen's return. When draft clowns/experts claim that the Vikings need a cornerback in the draft, they miss the presence of Sugarman on the team. Late in the 2009 season, Vikings LB EJ Henderson suffered a brutal broken femur. His football career was in serious jeopardy. Sugarman showed Henderson the book on rehabbing an injury like this. They decided to write a new one. Eight months after his leg flopped about like a noodle, Henderson was ready for training camp. Perhaps Sugarman's greatest challenge has been the maniac Jared Allen. A grade 3 AC sprain in the shoulder is a miserable injury that involves constant, throbbing pain and signifies an automatic flat tire for a defensive end whose whole game revolves around his shoulders. Allen had this injury. He missed Wednesday and Thursday practices, worked with the trainer on Friday to see if he could use his arm at all, played on Sunday when most players wouldn't play for weeks, and recorded two sacks. Allen can get a trainer in trouble. Protecting a player from himself is sometimes the toughest part of the job. Allen couldn't injure his shoulder more than it already was. That wasn't the case with running back Adrian Peterson during his rookie season. He had already missed two games with a knee injury. Peterson had enough and demanded to play. Sugarman semijoked that they almost got into a fistfight because Peterson wanted to play so bad. "He was pissed," Sugarman says. "But he got over it. Contrary to popular opinion, we're not going to put guys out there in harm's way." With the NFL finally acknowledging the seriousness of concussions, the trainer has become even more critical. They hide the helmets of players that have possible concussions. The trainers are now entrusted with keeping the players healthy now and long term.

In the violent world of football, keeping players playing is critical to a teams success. It is reassuring to have Sug on the Vikings.