Elite athletes have an exceptionally brutal and rigorous regime to ensure they reach and maintain the peak of physical fitness, but a chiropractor is often the secret weapon to ensure they can be tough enough to get going when the going gets tough.
There are a lot of famous athletes who have sworn by chiropractic, from Tiger Woods to Arnold Schwarzenegger, but arguably the most influential spokesman for chiropractic was one of the first to reveal just how much it helped them on one of the biggest stages of all.
The NFL Super Bowl is one of the most-viewed sporting events every year, despite being the championship game for a sport that is primarily watched in just one country.
At Super Bowl XXIV on 28th January 1990, The San Francisco 49ers beat the Denver Broncos in what remains the most dominant victory seen during the big game.
This was typically credited to the Most Valuable Player of the game, quarterback Joe Montana. However, he would quickly credit a previously unsung hero in the locker room for his victory in Dr Nick Athens, the team chiropractor.
Whilst chiropractic was used by a lot of players before Joe Cool and his favourite wide receiver target Jerry Rice, the pair were amongst the first players to credit their longevity with regular, targeted adjustments.
Both players had very long careers, with Mr Montana playing for 15 years despite suffering a back injury so severe that his doctors suggested he retire. He returned three months later and would win two Super Bowls after being told this.
Meanwhile, Jerry Rice played for nearly two decades in an intensely physical position, famously playing 189 games in a row in a position where he would often be tackled and slammed to the ground.
Two of the best players in the history of American Football crediting their success to chiropractic led to a phenomenon known as the “Montana Effect”, where other teams would add a chiropractor to their medical team.
