Patriots are in good hands thanks to local doctor
Jim Whalen, the team’s head trainer, calls Cumberland home
“His job is incredibly difficult... He’s scheduling appointments for 50-something odd guys and working with coaches... his real art is balancing all those things and he’s very good at doing that.” —Patriots’ tackle Nate Solder, on trainer Jim Whalen
Mention Jim Whalen’s name inside the New England Patriots’ locker room and you’ll be told that he isn’t known as Jim. Within the Gillette Stadium walls, call him Jimbo.
“Jimbo!” exclaimed safety Devin McCourty when specifically asked about the Patriots’ head athletic trainer since 2002.
“He’s the man!” offered special teams ace and backup wide receiver Matthew Slater.
Mention Whalen’s name in his adopted Cumberland community and the reaction is once again overwhelmingly positive. Whalen lives a stone’s throw away from Cumberland High School – it’s the house with two hockey nets setup in the driveway for son Ryan, a CHS senior and faceoff specialist on the Clippers’ boys’ lacrosse team.
“He’s a great guy and really funny. As cool as it is for what
he does and who he knows, he’s not pretentious. If you didn’t know him, you would think he was an accountant,” said Cumberland resident John Zancan, whose connection to Whalen harkens back to when his daughter Madison and Whalen’s daughter Jaclyn attended the same gymnastics studio. “He’s come to parties every year in the backyard. Obviously during the season, you rarely ever see him. I would imagine his job is 24/7.”
That was re-affirmed earlier this week in Minnesota when Tom Brady shared a story about the time he was bitten by a dog on the field at Gillette. The freak occurrence prompted a late-night phone call to Whalen, whose name was specifically mentioned by Brady when the quarterback met with the media. Dealing with separated shoulders and torn patellar tendons is one thing, but how about trying to make sense of the franchise player getting chomped on?
“His job is incredibly difficult because he’s setting up appointments for things that might not be football related,” said Patriots left tackle Nate Solder, his words about Whalen coming before Brady’s dog-bites-man episode was made public. “He’s scheduling appointments for 50-something odd guys and working with coaches … his real art is balancing all those things and he’s very good at doing that.”
The Patriots aren’t in the practice of granting media access to the training staff. Fans may recognize Whalen as the individual who sprints from the sideline every time a New England player goes down. He’s one of those behind-thescenes individuals who has seen and heard plenty during his decade-plus in Foxboro.
The players clearly respect Whalen and the timely fashion he goes about the business of getting them back onto the field makes him a very popular guy. When Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Brady know the names of your children, which Zancan noted is the case with Whalen, you have certainly met the criteria as a trusted confident.
“He’s a down to earth guy. We can go in there and throw jokes at Jimbo. That’s a big deal. He’s fun to work with,” said New England guard Shaq Mason. “Our livelihood is our body and being healthy, and you need someone who believes in you.”
Understandably, people will ask Whalen questions about this Patriot or that Patriot. Naturally, Whalen doesn’t like to mix in business talk when he’s not on the clock and in the company of New England personnel.
“People around here, they view the Patriots as gods. To him, they’re people he works with,” said Zancan. “He’ll smile and laugh whenever someone tries to talk football with him, but there’s a code of silence. It’s just taboo.”
There are exceptions when nuggets pertaining to the Patriots’ airtight fortress are shared – providing you’re part of Whalen’s inner circle.
“It wasn’t bragging or anything, but once he mentioned how Gisele [Bünd- chen, Brady’s wife] made him breakfast,” said Zancan, who in the late 80s and early 90s played college football at Hofstra (N.Y.) University, where he started out as a quarterback before transitioning to safety. “He speaks highly of Kraft and [head coach Bill] Belichick. The rapport he has with the players where he respects what they do and vice versa, it’s almost like they’ve become friends.”
A few years back, when son Ryan was at Cumberland Hill Elementary, Jim Whalen showed up for one of those “bring your parent to work” events. The occasion was punctuated by an appearance by Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. Everything was so hush-hush and done on the down low. Gronkowski went, made the youngster’s day, and slipped out without a big media crush on his tail.
The entire sequence speaks volumes about a trainer who has the trust of the players. The same theory holds true when Whalen is helping the Patriots recover from one game and gearing up for the next.
“I’ve had injuries throughout the years where on a Monday and a Tuesday, I’m thinking it’s going to be tough to go on Sunday. That’s a huge credit to what Jimbo and his staff do,” said McCourty.
Added Slater, “I would have been done years ago if Jimbo wasn’t on the staff.”
Those powerful endorsements validate Whalen and the entire Patriots athletic training staff getting recognized as the 2016 Ed Block Courage Award NFL Athletic Training Staff of the Year. The accompanying press release did include the following: “Leading the daily efforts in ensuring the best evaluation, care, and treatment for New England athletes is Patriots head athletic trainer Jim Whalen.”
“He’s got a great thing going there and you can tell he enjoys what he does,” said Zancan about Whalen, this area’s connection to the everyday life that transpires and unfolds at One Patriot Place.