TOWSON, Md. - Terry L. O'Brien, aka T.O., is going to pick up a well-deserved honor when the Mid Atlantic Athletic Trainer's Association inducts our guy into its Hall of Fame during its annual symposium in Greenville, S.C. on May 18th.
MAATA doesn't let just anybody into its hall. If you're wondering what it takes to land a spot in it let's consider T.O.'s career.
A couple of years ago T.O. retired after a span of almost four decades at Towson University as a student, coach, teacher and athletic trainer. Nowadays, though, you can find him patrolling the course at Pine Ridge Golf Club as its marshal, fishing for drum and rock fish at his favorite spot on a Virginia river known only to him (its location is classified), or performing various “honey-dos”.
T.O. served his country in the United States Marine Corps from 1967 to 1970. During that time, he was deployed to Vietnam, where he was promoted to Sergeant. His primary MOS was 2831, Radio Relay Technician which explains why he took the lead for Towson's athletic department when it entered the computer age.
Following his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps T.O. enrolled at Towson. He played football for the Tigers. As a placekicker he held the program's career long field goal record of 50 yards, a record that stood until it was broken by future NFL All-Pro punter Sean Landeta (57 yards). T.O. had enough leg to get a shot at the NFL when he signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles. He never made it as a player but today he works part-time for the NFL as an ATC Observer during the football season.
A two-sport athlete T.O. threw the shot for the Tigers' track team, capturing a Mason-Dixon Conference indoor title. He found plenty of time to make his mark academically too. In 1974 he was selected as the Baltimore Chamber of Commerce's Football Scholar-Athlete. He earned his undergraduate degree in Physical Education in 1975. In 1992 he was inducted into our Towson Athletic Hall of Fame.
T.O. was a student athletic trainer for four years under Hugh Townsend and Jim Wall. Additionally, he was a student assistant to Eddie Block and Mike O'Shea of the Baltimore Colts for the summer of 1973.
Upon graduating he accepted a challenging faculty position in Baltimore's inner city school system while serving as a volunteer assistant football coach under the venerable Phil Albert. After three years he left Baltimore for graduate school at the University of Virginia where he earned his Master's degree in Athletic Training/Sports Medicine (1979). In 1980, he was hired as Towson's Associate Athletic Trainer and promoted to Head Athletic Trainer the following year, holding the position until his retirement in 2010.
From day one T.O. worked tirelessly to improve Towson's sports medicine program. The first day he reported to work must have been a scary one as he looked at a staff that consisted of two certified athletic trainers and four students to service 23 varsity sports that included almost 500 student-athletes. All were cramped into a small room in the bowels of the Towson Center.
Many years later, the staff numbered seven full-time athletic trainers and 65 students. In 2004, the operation relocated to the spacious, state-of-the-art 3,800 square-feet Ford-Vetter Sports Medicine Facility that he and his staff had primarily designed..
During his Towson service, T.O. taught as an adjunct professor in the Kinesiology Department. More than 60 of his student athletic trainers went on to excel in the field of allied health. T.O., the athletic training staff and, the Physical Education department collaborated in initiating an NATA-accredited Athletic Training Education Program, which was the first in the state of Maryland. This program has graduated over 400 students who pursued careers in athletic training, medicine, physical therapy, medical administration, sales, public service, and private business.
Now to the meat of the matter and the compelling reasons for his upcoming induction into his third Hall of Fame.
During his career, T.O. kept active in a wide range of local, state, regional, and national professional endeavors including (deep breath): Member, Maryland Athletic Trainers Association Licensure Committee; Representative, District III Audio-visual Committee; Registration Chair, District III Annual Meeting & Symposium; Editor, District III Newsletter; Secretary/Treasurer, District III; Director, NATA District III; Member, NATA Finance Committee; Member, NATA Anti Steroid Poster Development Task Force; Chair, NATA Minority Concerns Task Force; Chair, NATA College/University Athletic Trainers Committee; NATA Delegate, 1997 NCAA Convention; Ex-officio, NATA Appropriate Medical Coverage for Intercollegiate Athletics Task Force; Coordinator, Local Organizing Committee for Participant Medical Care in the 2003 & 2004 Men's NCAA Lacrosse Championships.
Additionally he has served as a NATA Certification Test Site Proctor and NATA Certification Test Site Administrator and has participated on various educational speaking engagements and panels. In 2006, T.O. was inducted into the Maryland Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame.
So, if you're ever curious about the kind of credentials one needs to be considered for a hall of fame membership, now you've got a pretty good idea. And you can see that if you make it, it's certainly well-deserved.
