Tag: Geoff Kaplan

Texans team doctor James Muntz wins top award from NFL Physicians Society

Houston Texans team doctor James Muntz was given a top award from the NFL Physicians Society.

As the Houston Texans seek to rebuild their football team under general manager Nick Caserio and coach Lovie Smith, there are some elements to the organization that are first class.

The NFL Physicians Society announced Thursday that Texans team doctor James E. Muntz, M.D. earned the Jerry “Hawk” Rhea Award, which given annually by the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society to the NFL team physician who has made the greatest contributions both to the league and to the athletic training profession.

The award was given during the NFLPS annual scientific meeting and symposium at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. The award is named for Jerry Rhea, who was the head athletic trainer for the Atlanta Falcons from 1969-94 and was also an assistant to the president of the Falcons from 1994-2001.

Texans director of sports performance planning and medical administration Geoff Kaplan says that Muntz, “embodies everything that is important to be an award-winning team physician.”

“He is caring, loving, sympathetic, servant minded, accessible, funny and knowledgeable,” said Kaplan. “What separates Jim for other people is his ability to connect with his patients and make them feel as though they are his only patient. Jim has always been a mainstay in the athletic training room and over the last 30-plus years has been a tremendous friend and supporter for the Houston Texans Athletic Training staff and all athletic trainers across the country.”

Muntz, whose specialty is internal medicine and who has undergraduate degree from Indiana and attended medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, has over 30 years of experience working with athletes. In addition to his role with the Texans, Muntz is also a team physician for the Houston Astros and the Houston Rockets.

Muntz’s findings on venous thrombosis have been presented at more than 600 conferences and has been interviewed by sundry TV networks.

Los Angeles Rams vice president of sports medicine and performance and PFATS president Reggie Scoot says that he is “excited” to honor Dr. Muntz.

“I couldn’t be more excited to honor Dr. James Muntz with this award as he exemplifies everything this award is about,” Scott said.

Last year Carolina Panthers team doctor Robert A. Heyer won the award. A full list of winners is here.

What is Texans training camp like with new COVID-19 policies?

The Houston Texans have diligently implemented the NFL’s COVID-19 policies. It makes for a long day of training camp, but there are advantages.

Implementing and following the new NFL’s COVID-19 policies isn’t easy, but the Houston Texans have diligently followed them to the best of their abilities.

Peter King from NBC Sports took readers through a day in the life of the Texans now that the NFL has implemented COVID-19 policies to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Each day of training camp starts at 4:30 a.m. in the guest bedroom of Texans infection control officer Geoff Kaplan, who sleeps there to prevent possible spread of the disease in his own home. Kaplan awaits an email from BioReference Labs, the league’s testing lab, about the status of 180 Texans players, coaches, and staff. Are they free of COVID-19?

Coach and general manager Bill O’Brien arrives to NRG Stadium by 5:15 a.m. every day to undergo COVID-19 screening. Of course, it begins at 4:00 a.m. when he fills out a 17-answer questionnaire about his health over the past 48 hours. Along with his screening at the stadium, which includes the uncomfortable nasal swab test, O’Brien needs a confirmation email generated from the questionnaire to get into the building.

The 51-year-old’s day doesn’t end until 9:30 p.m. Every day is a long day of getting ready for the regular season while constantly having the effects of a pandemic in the back of your head.

The club takes a unique Texans approach to the policies. For instance, in how the position groups are broken up for testing, there’s green for rookies and first-year players, silver for defensive players who play special teams, Liberty White for veteran quarterbacks, non-special teams, and veterans of six-plus years, Battle Red for offensive players who play special teams, and then Deep Steel Blue for offensive and defensive linemen.

Defensive end J.J. Watt likes the new version of training camp that combines team facility work with also recuperating at home in one’s own environment.

“I mean, if I’m being perfectly honest, it’s somewhat nice from an actual football standpoint,” Watt told King. “Think about a normal training-camp day: You’re in the building from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. And you got a whole bunch of meetings. Now, we are very efficient in our meetings. We get things done.

“Nobody’s screwing around. Everybody’s locked in. It’s just really been good with our Zoom meetings. Just purely being in the comfort of your home doing your Zoom meetings, and not having to rush into the stadium early in the morning. It is a nice feature.”

As of Aug. 9, the Texans did not have any players who tested positive for COVID-19. Houston hopes that streak continues well beyond their Week 1 opener at the Kansas City Chiefs.

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