Just prior to Super Bowl XLVII, several news outlets ran stories on chiropractors going to the Super Bowl to help the athletes compete at their highest level. Super Bowl 47 featured the Baltimore Ravens against the San Francisco 49ers. In this game, San Francisco staged a valiant comeback but fell short and the Baltimore Ravens became the champions.
In the February 3, 2013, edition of the Capital Gazette, one such article talked about how their team may have an advantage by saying, “The Baltimore Ravens will be playing with the benefit of a ‘performance enhancer’ in tonight’s Super Bowl.” The author, Tina Reed, a staff writer of the article in the Annapolis, Maryland publication continued, “It won’t be picked up in any testing. It hasn’t been banned from the NFL.”
Reed was referring to the fact that Dr. Alan K. Sokoloff, a chiropractor, would be on the sidelines adjusting the players. In the article Dr. Sokoloff explained, “A lot of people think chiropractors just ‘crack backs, but a team chiropractor in the NFL can do so much more involving performance enhancement.”
The Ravens were not the only team in the Super Bowl to have the benefit of chiropractic. The Hunterdon County Democrat also ran a story on January 29, 2013, reporting on a chiropractor, Dr. Jody Serra, who traveled with the San Francisco 49ers to help their team try to win it all.
Dr. Serra was quoted in the article talking about how the players understand the value of chiropractic care. “They realize the benefits of having their bodies balanced before competing.” He continued and expressed his enthusiasm for being at the games, “I love to be involved with these guys and I’m always rooting for the teams I treat.”
In the case of the 49ers, the article pointed out that most of the team’s starting players get adjusted at their hotel the day before a game. The article also noted that chiropractic care for athletes is widespread well beyond just these two teams, or even football players in general. “Professional athletes in many sports use chiropractic care to help them perform at their peak.”
