Coutesy of Arlene Miller

Washington University orthopedic surgeon Matthew Matava (right) escorts former St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger to the sidelines in a game in 2009 against the Arizona Cardinals.Matava is the head team physician for the Rams.

For Washington University orthopedic surgeon Matthew Matava, the weekend is no time for rest. Sundays are game days for the St. Louis Rams, and as head team physician, Matava’s office space shifts from the operating room to the 50-yard line.

In addition to his role with the Rams, Matava serves as one of three team physicians for the St. Louis Blues and the primary physician for Wash. U. athletes. Matava is co-chief of the Sports Medicine Division of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Wash. U. and a professor of orthopedic surgery and physical therapy at the medical school.

Mondays during football season provide a microcosm of Matava’s workload.

Matava starts his day at 6:30 a.m. in Chesterfield, seeing patients at the school’s orthopedics center. Later in the morning, he drives to the Rams’ practice facility in Earth City to determine treatment plans for players banged up in the previous day’s game. Matava then returns to the clinic before ending his day in the Wash. U. training room attending to athletes who have competed over the weekend.

Matava had his heart set on a career in medicine starting in the seventh grade and enrolled in a six-year medical program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City after graduating from high school. Meanwhile, Matava played on the basketball team at UMKC and suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament that prompted his interest in orthopedics.

Matava decided to switch to general surgery for his residency at Emory University, but, ironically enough, his first rotation was orthopedic surgery.

“I was always athletically inclined, and sports medicine seemed like a nice mix of the medical side of doing some surgery but also combining my love of sports, so it was a natural fit,” Matava said.

Matava came to Wash. U. in 1994 and began working with the school’s athletes.

The next year, the Rams moved from Los Angeles to St. Louis, and Matava’s senior partner at Wash. U., Robert Shively, took over as head team physician. In 2000, an offensively-dominant Rams team known as the “Greatest Show on Turf” rolled to the National Football League title. Matava attended the Super Bowl in Atlanta, which ended memorably when Tennessee Titans’ wide receiver Kevin Dyson fell one yard shy of tying the score as time expired. Jeff Fisher, the head coach of that Titans team, now holds the same position in St. Louis.

Although Matava could not partake in the ring ceremony like Shively, he replaced his retiring partner immediately after the thrilling victory. The Rams returned to the Super Bowl two years later, but this time an unforgettable ending favored their opponent—New England Patriots’ kicker Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning 48-yard field goal more or less finished the “Greatest Show on Turf” era.

“The Super Bowl was an incredible experience,” Matava said. “The Super Bowl that we lost, just because I was so intimately involved in caring for the players, it was probably the [biggest] disappointment I’ve ever had professionally—just because you follow these guys, you help them, you feel like you’re part of the team. But you can’t be too much of a fan because their health is ultimately what you’re there for.”

Matava faced some challenges during the second Super Bowl run, especially the injuries suffered by star quarterback Kurt Warner.

“[He] injured his larynx, so he couldn’t speak very loud,” Matava said. “He had a hard time actually relaying the plays from the sideline in the huddle.”

In addition, Warner needed injections before games to lessen the pain of playing with broken ribs.

Matava said that professional football’s short season heightens the necessity for team physicians to provide the best possible care. As opposed to the 82-game schedules for hockey and basketball and the 162-game schedule for baseball, football players have only 16 contests to battle for playoff spots. Furthermore, football players’ careers usually do not last as long as those of their counterparts in other professional sports.

“The average NFL player plays about 3 1/2 years…so these guys have a short amount of time to make their living, and you want to maximize their ability to do so,” Matava said.

The limited window on players’ primes is also complicating the raging debate over concussions in football. While more than 1,000 retired players push litigation against the NFL for long-term damages resulting from repeated hits and head injuries, current players often argue that the league has gone overboard with player safety requirements. Some will even lie about their symptoms to get back on the field.

Matava recalls a time when former Rams’ All-Pro running back Marshall Faulk suffered a hit to the head during action.

“He grabbed his helmet and ran back into the game before we could even stop him,” Matava said. “So I learned early on, if you want to have a player stay on the sideline, you hold their helmet because they can’t go on the field without their helmet on…You almost have to protect them from themselves sometimes.”

Deep down, most players know that team physicians are among their biggest supporters, Matava said, but their interests can conflict in the heat of battle, as was the case with Faulk.

Despite all the responsibilities associated with working for two professional sports franchises, Matava and his team still make time for Wash. U. athletes.

Head football coach Larry Kindbom, with whom Matava has worked for nearly 20 years at the school, offered him effusive praise.

“I think he’s the best…if my son or daughter were in a situation where they needed that kind of attention, I would certainly want them to go see him,” Kindbom said. “And I can tell you that I needed that kind of attention—I had a meniscus tear, and I wanted Dr. Matava to do it.”