Sports

‘Godfather’ of Saguaro HS football back for Fiesta Bowl as key member of OSU staff

SCOTTSDALE - It was a casual offseason afternoon Friday at Saguaro High School. Seventeen players on the school’s varsity football team were in the gym lifting weights. It wasn’t mandatory; head coach Jason Mohns had given his team the final two weeks of December off, but some players wanted to come in.

Alternative treatments to painkillers making inroads

PHOENIX - Joyce Rash, who lives in Canada but spends her winters in Arizona, was using muscle relaxers and traditional physical therapy to help with her leg pain, but they weren’t working.

Trainers turn focus to preventing injuries, not treating them with painkillers

FLAGSTAFF - Joshua Johnson’s title at Northern Arizona University reads athletic trainer. But he calls himself a “performance enhancer.”

Former NFL players seek game-changer to painkillers

BOULDER, Colo. – It’s been nearly 10 years since Jake Plummer retired from football. He still experiences soreness and pain from his neck and shoulders to the soles of his feet.

In his own words: Former Sun Rex Chapman opens up about his battle with addiction

LEXINGTON, Ky. – “When you’ve made the decision to go to rehab, you’re gonna go in there guns blazing,” said Rex Chapman, a Phoenix Suns guard from 1996 to 2000 who later spent time in the team’s front office. “Meaning you’re gonna take probably more (drugs) than you normally take because this is your last hurrah for a long time, maybe ever.”

Football participation in Arizona high schools on the rise despite concussion concerns