Interview
NFL Great Roger Craig Shares his Secret Weapon
Better Living
Roger Craig is a former NFL running back who won three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers. In addition to the eight years Craig spent with the 49ers, he also played with the Los Angeles Raiders and Minnesota Vikings. Roger was the first player to rush for over 1000 yards, have nine touch downs, and catch over 90 passes in the same season! Craig amassed an impressive resume during his NFL career, defying the odds in avoiding injuries and amazing fellow NFL players with his ability to recover quickly from damaging body lesions. In this month's feature interview' Craig explains what role chiropractic played in his success and how chiropractic enables him to continue to push the limits of his body with each Rock 'n' Roll Marathon that he runs.
etter Living:
Tell me a little bit about your upbringing.
Roger Craig: It was good. As you know, I was a student at Central. During that time, I was introduced to a lot of chiropractic students who were trying to get all their community hours in, and indirectly, that's how I got introduced to chiropractic. These students would knock on the door and see if they could work on us or whatever. You know, it was kind of cool.
BL: So, Roger, you understand the power of the chiropractic adjustment! Can you tell me a bit about how you came to understand its effects so completely?
RC: Of course! I am from Davenport, Iowa, and my whole family had been receiving treatments from Dr. Mitch Mally. He adjusted my mother and my grandmother, who was in her 90s! She would get adjustments twice a week. Her spine was so straight, she'd walk gracefully—it wasn't like she was old or hunched over. She was just fluid, man.
“Keeping your spine in that's what's so important in life”
She just walked fluidly. Dr. Mally took good care of her.
Afterward, when I got drafted by the 49ers in 1983, I talked to Dr. Mally and asked him, "Wow, now who's going to take care of me? You've been taking care of me all these years, but you live in Davenport and I'll be out in California!" Dr. Mally said, "Let me look in my Rolodex and see what students use my technique."
And that's how I got introduced to Nick Athens!
I was Nick's first big patient. He was still living at home with his parents and was just excited to take care of me, and he knew the mechanics of the lower extremities pretty well from Dr. Mally.
I needed a mind that could understand all that.
Now, I'm actually the spokesperson for the Nebraska Chiropractor Physicians Association !
BL: So not only do you get adjusted, but most of your family does as well?
RC: Yes! My five kids—they're all great athletes, you know? My daughter Rometra is an all-American basketball player. She even took third place in the world intheTae Kwon Do Junior Championships. All of them know the importance of getting adjusted and staying healthy!
BL: They've got to be strong to keep up with you! So once you knew there was a secret weapon in your corner with chiropractic, what did you do?
RC: It was amazing! I introduced Nick Athens to guys like Joe Montana, Wendell Tyler, and Jerry Rice! All these guys followed me after I went to Nick because I believed in chiropractic. You need that in your life, you know?
BL: What do you need in your life?
RC: Keeping your spine in line—that's what's so important in life, as you compete at a high level and your joints get knocked out of whack. Basically, if you neverget yourjoints realigned, you damage other things in your body. Just like a car, when it hits a curb and the wheels go out of alignment, if you don't realign that car, it's going to break down other parts of the car. Your body's the same way. Really, I liked to be at my best every time I stepped on the football field, and by having chiropractic on my team, it really helped me play at a high level every week. I would recover so fast. People would look at me like, "What's wrong with this guy? Is he bionic or something?" I didn't miss a game for eight years! It just shows you how important maintenance is.
BL: Was that advantage only as a football player?
RC: Not just as a football player. You know, the sports that I played. I run marathons now.
BL: How's your body holding up?
RC: Yeah! Oh, my body's holding up great. I've run probably about 39 marathons! And I'm running 45 to 50 miles a week.
BL: That's a lot of mileage.
RC: It's a lot of pounding on your body. So, the main thing that I try to tell people is that you have to invest in your body. You want to have a healthy life, and if you're pain free, you have a good quality of life. That's the key.
BL: Sounds like you understand the big idea.
RC: That's the only way you're going to keep going. It was revolutionary, you know—athletes
“imagine—you get diced!
I wasn't going to be on that "meat table," man. ”
getting adjustments. There were athletes before me that were getting adjustments.
BL: Like who?
RC: Like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I was fighting it because it wasn't popular in the 1980s. Trainers would hear about us getting an adjustment, and then the doctors would get pissed off.
BL: So how was the chiropractor influencing the sports world?
RC: Basically, what chiropractic was doing was enabling the players to perform well and not have to get surgery. If your shoulder was out of alignment, they would immediately want to operate. I'm like, "Dude!" "Oh no. No, no, no, no operation here." I said, "Let me spend some time with my chiropractor, and if it's not better, I'll come back to you."
BL: Right. So you got it worked out?
RC: My chiropractor, Nick, adjusted my shoulder because it was out of alignment, and then I strengthened the muscles around it, and I was done. Today my shoulder's fine.
You know, most guys, they don't have options because they don't know about chiropractic.
BL: So what happens if they don't get it worked out?
RC: Imagine—you get diced! I wasn't going to be on that "meat table," man. I wasn't going let them slice on my body.
BL: How's that make you feel?
RC: Like today, I get mad, and think, "Man, what if they had operated on that? My shoulder's fine. I don't have any problems whatsoever."
Once you go under the knife, you're never the same. You're never the same.
BL: Did you see that with other players?
RC: Oh yeah, a lot of other guys did go under the knife, and they had problems, when all they had to do is realign their joints!
BL: Because of your effort in educating others about the benefits of chiropractic and what it can do for athletes, there is now a chiropractor on all of the NFL teams.
RC: Right. Now they have their own chiropractor as one of their doctors, but they only let them do so much, you know?
BL: Right.
RC: But at least they do have it. At least they can adjust the back and do all those things. But, they can't like go in and intervene to adjust an ankle or a shoulder or whatever.
I've been working with chiropractic for the last 40-something years. You know, that's what I believe and that's what has kept me healthy throughout my career. I was one of the most healthy players. I mean, here I am, 55 years old, running marathons! I'm not just jogging. I'm running.
BL: You're fast. You've always been fast! Now you're doing this Rock 'n' Roll Marathon thing? Can you explain that a little bit.
RC:Yeah! I'moneofthe race's cofounders for San Jose and San Francisco. We're celebrating our 10th anniversary! It's a weekend event. We have rockand-roll bands every mile of the race. So, if you run a half marathon, there are around thirteen bands out there playing rock and roll while you run. And then there's the concert after the race. This is really a big event. We had 20,000 runners running in San Jose last year! Deena Kastor, who is the 2004 Olympic bronze Medalist and American 5k Master Record Holder, as well as Meb Keflezighi, who has won the New York and Boston Marathons, are just
“Patient's need to embrace what chiropractic is all about. ”
some of our runners who participate!
We always have an expo on the Friday and Saturday before the race. At the expo, they have a lot of different health companies and chiropractors for people to go see. They offer all types of different products that can help your body. Let me tell you... one of my secret weapons, apart from Chiropractic, is Biofreeze! It's what I use to help my muscles feel less sore after a run.
BL: Either you're the best salesman in the world, or you're involved with a lot of stuff that's absolutely true in the health industry!
RC: I'm just saying, health and chiropractic plays a big role in my life—keeping my body tuned up all the time. It's something that you have to invest in. You just can't walk around like, "Well, I'm just going to be OK in life." You have to take the time to understand your body.
And the cool thing about chiropractic is that every chiropractor who adjusts me gives me some education on the profession. I think a lot of people just don't know the benefits.
My grandmother's a prime example. Her spine was so straight—it was amazing. She did it for about 35 years. She believed in it, you know? I better believe in it! The benefit is also in prevention. If your hip is out, or your ankle, something else is going to go out. So you address those issues early, and then it'll stop you from having major injuries.
BL: Any last words for our readers ?
RC: Patients need to be educated in chiropractic. Most chiropractors don't go through the motions; they explain things to the patients. Patient's need to embrace what chiropractic is all about. They need to be educated about their body so they understand about their extremities and how to help prevent injuries. Invest in your body!
Roger Craig's Twitter username is @highstepper33 and his website is Rogercraig33.com.
