Speaker 1: And welcome to the Happy half hour again, my friends.
Speaker 1: I am Darren Gant. We are going to talk many
Speaker 1: things Carolina Panthers, less about the football, more about the
Speaker 1: news of the week, which, obviously, if you're following Panthers
Speaker 1: dot Com in this theme, you are well aware by
Speaker 1: this point that training camp is going to be in
Speaker 1: Charlotte next year. So long to our friends in Spartanburg.
Speaker 1: They have been delightful. I am reminded of a time
Speaker 1: when Eric Davis, former Panthers cornerback, once looked at me
Speaker 1: and said, no offense to the Spartanburgians and the Wafferdites,
Speaker 1: but it's time to go home, and it's been lovely.
Speaker 1: I have always been a proponent of the idea of
Speaker 1: training camp and the idea of getting away, getting to
Speaker 1: know your staff, having a bonding experience, sequestering yourself away
Speaker 1: from the world and doing the football or doing the
Speaker 1: content as we do. But at the same time, I
Speaker 1: don't have to move all the stuff, so I think
Speaker 1: when you think about the Panthers heading to spartan Berg,
Speaker 1: that was a monumental effort. The equipment staff, the it,
Speaker 1: the training room, all the stuff that has to go
Speaker 1: with a football team to a place for two and
Speaker 1: a half weeks in the summer is a mammoth undertaking,
Speaker 1: and I think just in terms of streamlining the football operation,
Speaker 1: you know, some of this is going to be helpful.
Speaker 1: You know, Chris Taber was asked about it. I laughed.
Speaker 1: When Tabes, as an interim head coach, gets asked about
Speaker 1: long term franchise decisions like moving training camp, Tabes are like, well,
Speaker 1: I don't know, I kind of like Spartanburg. But at
Speaker 1: the same time, I understand there's advantage just doing it here.
Speaker 1: So that's kind of all an interim coach can say
Speaker 1: on that point. But the thing I can tell you
Speaker 1: is that as a you know, from an organizational standpoint,
Speaker 1: this puts the Panthers in line with most of the league.
Speaker 1: They were one of only six teams last year to
Speaker 1: go away from their facility to train for a training camp,
Speaker 1: and training camp lasted about two and a half weeks.
Speaker 1: You're talking about twelve practices, including the back to football
Speaker 1: practice and the fan fest which was back here. And
Speaker 1: if you read our report on Panthers dot com about
Speaker 1: the transition, you will know that FanFest is now going
Speaker 1: to live somewhere in the state of South Carolina. Details
Speaker 1: to be announced at a later date, but I think
Speaker 1: it's a thing that people you know down there will
Speaker 1: still have a lot of access to this team, and
Speaker 1: there's going to be an opportunity for a lot of
Speaker 1: South Carolinians to participate in this thing. But you know,
Speaker 1: reality is the business of the NFL is such that
Speaker 1: camps go back to team facilities, and that is how
Speaker 1: you know the business is getting done this time of year.
Speaker 1: So at any rate camp is no longer in Spartanburg.
Speaker 1: I will miss taking pictures of the giant peach I
Speaker 1: know Podcast Matt is a big fan of the Peachoid
Speaker 1: in Gafney, South Carolina, And you know, let's be honest,
Speaker 1: I'm probably still going to drive down there the night
Speaker 1: before training camp, take a picture of it posted on
Speaker 1: the social medias, and then go to training camp anyway,
Speaker 1: just as I've always done. So you know, I know
Speaker 1: the people have gotten used to that kind of stuff,
Speaker 1: and I know you know I do it for the people,
Speaker 1: so I will make sure to continue to post the
Speaker 1: content that people want when it's time for training camp.
Speaker 1: Speaking of things people have gotten used to, the last
Speaker 1: couple of weeks here on the Happy half Hour, we
Speaker 1: have gone off menu a little bit. Instead of just
Speaker 1: me yelling at the sky for thirty minutes because nobody
Speaker 1: needs that, I have taken my portable recorder. I feel
Speaker 1: like Al Franklin in the Saturday Night Live Days had
Speaker 1: the two point three meters parabolic dish that he would
Speaker 1: do live satellite interviews. I have a portable recorder that
Speaker 1: I've been entrusted with by the fine broadcast staff here,
Speaker 1: and I am walking around the building talking to people
Speaker 1: support staffers who make this train keep rolling. And this
Speaker 1: week I visited with someone who has been among the
Speaker 1: busiest of the staffers with the Carolina Panthers this year.
Speaker 1: I stopped and talked to assistant athletic trainer Karen Oshwea,
Speaker 1: and Karen has an interesting backstory of her own, and
Speaker 1: given all the injuries the Carolina Panthers have dealt with
Speaker 1: this season, has been among the busiest people in the building.
Speaker 1: So I was very grateful that she took a couple
Speaker 1: of minutes and allowed us to catch up. Here's our
Speaker 1: conversation with Karen. All Right, as promised, I am here
Speaker 1: with Carolina Panthers assistant athletic trainer Karen ASHUEA. Karen, thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us, Thanks for having me. Absolutely. I've
Speaker 1: told people through the three weeks we've been doing this
Speaker 1: as kind of a feature inside the Happy Half Hour
Speaker 1: that I wanted to kind of go around the build
Speaker 1: and take people behind the scenes that some of the
Speaker 1: people who not only have important functions here for the
Speaker 1: football team, but also breathe a little life into the
Speaker 1: building and keep things up when things are tough as
Speaker 1: they are this year. So I wanted to come talk
Speaker 1: to you in particular because I think the training room
Speaker 1: with everything that's going on, and it's just first and foremost,
Speaker 1: let me say, this is all bad luck. And you
Speaker 1: know a lot of these injuries I know people worry about,
Speaker 1: but it's like some of these things you can't control.
Speaker 1: And you, guys, in your role of taking care of
Speaker 1: these football players, are dealing with bad luck and all
Speaker 1: these circumstances. But you manage to keep these guys afloat too,
Speaker 1: in addition to keeping them well, How do you do
Speaker 1: that one.
Speaker 2: Day at a time. I think that's maybe a cop out.
Speaker 3: But you know, we establish relationships with these players and
Speaker 3: even before they're injured. You know, we're talking to them,
Speaker 3: we're getting to know them and work on routines and
Speaker 3: establishing you know, maintenance care so that they can stay
Speaker 3: on the field.
Speaker 2: And obviously that doesn't always happen. It's football.
Speaker 3: There's a reason there's so many of us. There's a
Speaker 3: reason that athletic training is kind of known for football
Speaker 3: because injuries are going to happen. There's not an injury
Speaker 3: list team out injury list team out there, right and
Speaker 3: so but when that injury happens, it's also helpful to
Speaker 3: know the guy. And it's hard when a guy comes
Speaker 3: in and gets injured right away, but quite often maybe
Speaker 3: they we've known them, they've been around, so we have
Speaker 3: that you know that bond already want to help them
Speaker 3: get better, and you know then again see them consistently
Speaker 3: to get them back on the field.
Speaker 1: Right, if you had in your capacity in this job,
Speaker 1: if you had to divide it, oh, what percentage of
Speaker 1: your job is medical professional and what part of it
Speaker 1: is counsel or confess or you know, someone who's talking
Speaker 1: these guys through this as much as treating them for
Speaker 1: these injuries.
Speaker 2: Probably seventy five twenty five. I mean, it's definitely more.
Speaker 3: The nuance of you know, what exercises do we need
Speaker 3: to do, what treatments do we need to do?
Speaker 2: You know, what do we do.
Speaker 3: Want to do in the pool and things like that,
Speaker 3: and then we have resources here that we lean on
Speaker 3: if it goes beyond our you know, expertise, if you
Speaker 3: will you know, I'm not a clinical psychologist.
Speaker 2: We have one.
Speaker 3: We have one in the building and she's great, and
Speaker 3: so we lean on her when it goes beyond that
Speaker 3: you know, normal conversation, right, But it absolutely is you know,
Speaker 3: the time of injury is hard, dealing with needing to
Speaker 3: go on to injury reserve or even missing a game
Speaker 3: or missing a practice. Every situation is different and every
Speaker 3: you know guy you respond to differently too.
Speaker 1: Kevin King, our head athletic trainer here, has told me
Speaker 1: that even though the high profile guys and the stars
Speaker 1: of the team tend to get the most attention outside
Speaker 1: of the building, a lot of times for you guys,
Speaker 1: it's more rewarding to see some of the practice squad
Speaker 1: guys or are guys who aren't household names kind of
Speaker 1: make those recoveries and get well because a lot of
Speaker 1: times for them being well is the difference between being
Speaker 1: employed and unemployed, isn't it.
Speaker 3: Yes, availability is important and being able to do their job,
Speaker 3: and their job is being on the field, and so
Speaker 3: helping those guys if they are injured, getting back onto
Speaker 3: the field and taking that next step for them in.
Speaker 2: Their career, if it's here or elsewhere, it's really important.
Speaker 1: All Right, We're gonna talk a little bit about you
Speaker 1: and how long you've been here. You've been with the
Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers since twenty one. And since you've been here,
Speaker 1: probably what's the most unusual thing you've learned about this
Speaker 1: situation or this city, or this team, or or what's
Speaker 1: the thing that's kind of jumped out at you about
Speaker 1: this operation.
Speaker 2: Hmm, that's a tough question.
Speaker 3: I think I worked football in grad school and then
Speaker 3: I left football and did a new some other sports
Speaker 3: for a while, and so getting back into football and
Speaker 3: just remind remembering how big of.
Speaker 2: A team sport it is, and it takes all.
Speaker 3: Different guys from all different walks of life and all
Speaker 3: different body types even right to be effective and to
Speaker 3: do the job. And just that room, you know, seeing
Speaker 3: that again being back in it and how they work
Speaker 3: together and how you know, it's the common goal to
Speaker 3: put the best product right, to push the best plays
Speaker 3: on the field and perform and how they all kind
Speaker 3: of all the puzzle pieces have to go together.
Speaker 1: Right now. You mentioned different body sizes. It's a completely
Speaker 1: different science for a three hundred and twenty five pound
Speaker 1: offensive lineman then for one hundred and eighty five pound receiver,
Speaker 1: isn't it?
Speaker 2: Yes? Absolutely?
Speaker 3: And it requires you know, different exercises, different techniques, different
Speaker 3: field work, all of it, from from when the injury
Speaker 3: happens to when they get back onto the field again.
Speaker 1: To which one's easier.
Speaker 2: It's just different.
Speaker 3: I mean physically, it's easier for me to lift a
Speaker 3: running back's leg than a lineman's leg. But you just like,
Speaker 3: luckily we have these tables that go up and down.
Speaker 3: So figure it out, all.
Speaker 1: Right, who's the most difficult guy you have to work
Speaker 1: with on a daily basis? And it's okay for you
Speaker 1: to say that the correct answer is Shaq Thompson.
Speaker 2: I don't work with Shack that much. It's kind of
Speaker 2: a bummer.
Speaker 1: See, Shack gives everybody a hard time. So I walk
Speaker 1: past this room and he's like, what are you doing there?
Speaker 1: You know? So I'm used to. I feel like Shaq
Speaker 1: gives that to everybody, so I was I was giving
Speaker 1: you the opportunity to just make him the scapegoat for
Speaker 1: that right now. But in all serious though, are there
Speaker 1: guys who you've worked with closely who you're really gratified
Speaker 1: by seeing them well or who make your job easier?
Speaker 2: Absolutely?
Speaker 3: I think that when a guy shows up with a
Speaker 3: positive attitude, it makes our job a little bit easier.
Speaker 3: But we can't expect them to always show up happy
Speaker 3: to be here, especially if they're injured. And that's where
Speaker 3: you know you alluded to it, right, but we have to,
Speaker 3: you know, kind of be that bright spot encouragement. And
Speaker 3: you know, I think about, you know, what can I do.
Speaker 3: I can't make your injury go away. I don't have
Speaker 3: a magic bullet or magic farragun or anything like that,
Speaker 3: right like to make it instantly better. But if through
Speaker 3: our interaction, you know your mood gets a little bit better,
Speaker 3: then you know, maybe your stress level goes down, and
Speaker 3: so we take those steps towards towards healing and getting
Speaker 3: back onto the field. Yes, I think that there are
Speaker 3: players that struggle being injured more than others. For whatever reason,
Speaker 3: and they're all coming from different you know, experiences, either
Speaker 3: being injured before or not injured before, and that that
Speaker 3: shades how they respond to a new.
Speaker 1: Injury, right, because if a guy comes to see you,
Speaker 1: it's because something's gone wrong. Very few people just stop
Speaker 1: by the athletic training room because it's a cool place
Speaker 1: to hang out, although it is a very cool place
Speaker 1: to hang out.
Speaker 3: Well, we tell them they can come visit us even
Speaker 3: when they're not injured, and some do.
Speaker 2: Some take us up on it.
Speaker 3: You know, we do recovery treatments and again that maintenance
Speaker 3: care to help keep guys on the field.
Speaker 2: But yes, typically they're injured.
Speaker 1: Yeah, which color is the entire process I mean, And
Speaker 1: that's why I think I'm fascinated by the way you
Speaker 1: guys have to talk these guys through stuff while rehabbing them.
Speaker 1: Also because you know they are walking in the door
Speaker 1: with something pretty heavy on their mind. Their bodies are
Speaker 1: their livelihood, so if they're in here, it's usually because
Speaker 1: something's gone wrong and they're working on it. So I
Speaker 1: respect completely the way you guys have to work on
Speaker 1: both sides of these guys every day. So you mentioned
Speaker 1: working in another sport, prior to football, you were working in.
Speaker 3: Most recently US speed skating, So short track speed skating,
Speaker 3: all right, So what's a short short track speed skating injury?
Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like that's a big chafing sport.
Speaker 1: What what are we dealing with here? In short track speed.
Speaker 3: Skating a lot more overuse, So if you're familiar with
Speaker 3: the sport, it's kind of in this hunched over position
Speaker 3: and they're going as fast as they can on the ice, right,
Speaker 3: so knees, low backs, wear and tear. And then it's
Speaker 3: also a little bit of a collision sport when they crash,
Speaker 3: so you get concussions, you get fractures, you get lacerations,
Speaker 3: just not as common.
Speaker 1: So I'm sitting here making chafing jokes. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of serious stuff. I mean, I see this during the
Speaker 1: Olympics every four years. That is the extent of my
Speaker 1: knowledge of short track speed skating. I think Apollo on
Speaker 1: I was on a commercial or two, and I'm aware
Speaker 1: of him. But beyond that, it's something we see every
Speaker 1: four years. But that's serious stuff, it.
Speaker 3: Is, and it can be they go thirty plus miles
Speaker 3: per hour and right next to each other and sometimes
Speaker 3: they make contact and go into the boards together and
Speaker 3: it can be dangerous.
Speaker 1: All right. I'm not trying to violate anybody's hippo writes
Speaker 1: or anything, but do people ever get cut with those blades?
Speaker 1: I mean, the blades have to be super sharp. Laceration
Speaker 1: has to be a pretty big risk here too, right.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, So, I've seen a few when I was working
Speaker 3: the sport. Probably the most significant was when a blade
Speaker 3: broke and got kicked up into another skater's face and
Speaker 3: cut her chin.
Speaker 2: So ah, that was not awesome.
Speaker 3: They wear cut resistant suits, so that helps with the
Speaker 3: lacerations and things like that, but they're not cut.
Speaker 1: Proof, cut resistant suits, so that they're wearing kevlar out there. Yes,
Speaker 1: I did not know that. How would would a how
Speaker 1: would one know that? But you know, the suits they
Speaker 1: are also basically the materials are designed to make the
Speaker 1: i don't know, friction less for lack of a better word.
Speaker 2: Yes, so aerodynamic.
Speaker 3: You know, they don't want a lot of drag from
Speaker 3: the suit, so it's it's you know, close to the skin,
Speaker 3: not a lot of extra material and so dialing that
Speaker 3: in takes some engineering and not something I.
Speaker 2: Had to deal with at all.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I'm still kind of cringing at the thought
Speaker 1: of blade breaking and flying into someone's face. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's a.
Speaker 2: Luckily that only happened the one time that I saw.
Speaker 2: But they're very very sharp.
Speaker 1: Now in general, are speed skaters tougher than football players
Speaker 1: or less tougher? Don't worry, I want to shack Thompson
Speaker 1: the answer to this.
Speaker 2: They're just different sports.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, they hurt, I think differently, but they
Speaker 3: both hurt, right, Like, in speed skating you have your
Speaker 3: lactic acid, the thigh burn, the puke and rallies because
Speaker 3: you're putting out those efforts, right, and then in.
Speaker 2: Football you have the necessity of football.
Speaker 3: You're wearing pads, you're wearing, you know, a helmet all
Speaker 3: the time.
Speaker 2: Your you know, your hands are hurting, your body's hurting.
Speaker 3: Your collision. It's a collision sport. So I can't I
Speaker 3: can't compare it. Find someone that did both, and maybe
Speaker 3: they'd have a better option to tell you.
Speaker 1: I don't know about you, podcast, Matt, but the idea
Speaker 1: of a broken skate blade stuck in somebody's face a
Speaker 1: little unnerving to me. Not gonna lie, Yeah, that doesn't
Speaker 1: sound great at all. Yeah, I mean, of all the
Speaker 1: painful football injuries we've seen, at least no one's been
Speaker 1: impaled on anything this year. So we've got that going
Speaker 1: for us, which is nice. But anyway, it's cool to
Speaker 1: catch up with Karen because those guys in the athletic
Speaker 1: training are often overlooked or underappreciated. I know a lot
Speaker 1: of people are like, oh, what's happening with all these injuries.
Speaker 1: I promise you it's nothing they're they're doing wrong. It's
Speaker 1: nothing sinister going on. Some years, it is not your year.
Speaker 1: And with the injury luck the Carolina Panthers have had
Speaker 1: this season, it's amazing that they're able to keep their
Speaker 1: heads above water down there. But they've they've done a
Speaker 1: great job. And the guys you talk to, guys like
Speaker 1: Austin Corbett who have been in that room, you know,
Speaker 1: and they know that they go in there not just
Speaker 1: for the physical care, but they know the people there
Speaker 1: care about them because it's you develop relationships, as she said,
Speaker 1: when you're in there dealing with these guys on a
Speaker 1: day to day basis, and when you're working with a
Speaker 1: guy when he is not at his peak. So I
Speaker 1: am grateful to Karen and Kevin King and Katy Rodgers
Speaker 1: and the whole staff down there for letting us tell
Speaker 1: those stories a little bit this year. Speaking of stories,
Speaker 1: your Carolina Panthers head to New New Orleans this weekend.
Speaker 1: What are they gonna see there? God only knows. Derek Carr.
Speaker 1: I almost called him David Carr, Panthers legend, David Carr,
Speaker 1: who once suffered a compression fracture of his back in
Speaker 1: the New Orleans super Dome against the Saints, and that
Speaker 1: was one of the most memorable postgame press conferences I've
Speaker 1: ever seen, because David basically admitted he was full of
Speaker 1: paying killers and didn't know what he was saying to
Speaker 1: us at the moment. But his brother, Derek is the
Speaker 1: Saints quarterback now and is in the concussion protocol. We'll
Speaker 1: see what the injury report says about his status. But
Speaker 1: Chris Taber was talking yesterday and he basically said they
Speaker 1: have to prepare for everybody because he doesn't know if
Speaker 1: Carr is gonna play, doesn't know if Jameis Winston's gonna play,
Speaker 1: doesn't know if he's gonna see an even heavier dose
Speaker 1: of Taysom Hills. So a lot of stuff up in
Speaker 1: the air for the Carolina Panthers as they head down
Speaker 1: the stretch this season. Obviously things have not gone well
Speaker 1: for the team. We will do our best to keep
Speaker 1: you updated on the latest with the team as they
Speaker 1: bring this thing home and head into a pretty pivotal
Speaker 1: stretch of the offseason again with yet another coaching search
Speaker 1: and all the changes that are going to come with that.
Speaker 1: So until we gather up next week to discuss the
Speaker 1: New Orleans game, to discuss whatever else might happen between
Speaker 1: now and then, and you never know, I may just
Speaker 1: spend next week's podcast interviewing podcast Matt. You know it,
Speaker 1: Crazier things have happened. We could talk Godzilla movies, we
Speaker 1: could talk any number of things next week. Tune in
Speaker 1: then to see what we've got in store for you
Speaker 1: on the Happy Half Hour