Tom Zheng laughs. As it turns out, there are times when his job as a movement and performance specialist with the 49ers is not dissimilar to that of a psychic medium.
Ahead of a conference title game matchup with the division rival Rams, we’re talking about the old television show where a toothy, middle-aged man would address an entire audience claiming to have connections with the world beyond our own (there is a episode about it). He would say he was hearing from a spirit named “Dan” and, assuredly, someone in the audience would have a connection to a person with the same name and raise their hand. From there, using context clues that popped up over their short conversation, Edward would be able to ascertain who Dan was, how he died and what kind of message he had for the audience member longing for closure. There was always a moment when Edwards would bring up something that the audience member had not previously shared or alluded to, which locked in a degree of certainty about his psychic powers. From there, they were putty in his hands.
Zheng, more earnestly, goes on a real fact-finding mission and finds that the buy-in from naturally skeptical 49ers players comes when he brings up a part of their injury history that they had never disclosed to anyone. Of course, this is due to his actual knowledge of the human body (an undergraduate degree in human biology and a graduate degree in applied exercise science) and desire to help players recover faster and prevent injury.
An example: One player came into his office following a serious ankle sprain after getting rolled up on by a defensive lineman in practice early this season. He had a history of ankle discomfort. After reviewing a previous medical history and asking some pointed questions, Zheng came back with a report:
“‘I didn’t even tell you about my hamstring,’” Zheng recalls the player saying. “And you it was tight.’ So, a little bit of a buy in.”
A few corrective or preventive movements are assigned. Perhaps a date with one of their space-age machines is scheduled.
As far as Zheng knows, he’s the only movement and performance therapist in the NFL (a quick glance at each team’s NFL staff pages confirmed as much). The 49ers boast one of the most robust and diverse medical staffs in the league in terms of title and description, composed of athletic trainers, nutritionists and strength and conditioning experts. His office of functional performance, headed by Elliott Willams, is an intermediary between the strength room and the training room; a complementary arm that seems to have contributed to some preventative injury success, Zheng says, as well as adding a stabilizing presence for athletes who were hurled out of their rhythm and comfort zone during the pandemic in 2021.
While Zheng freely admits he is just one cog in a very intricate and complicated machine, his presence here in San Francisco and his ability to weigh in on various diagnoses and contribute advice is another example of why the 49ers are knocking on the door of their second Super Bowl appearance in just a few seasons. Few organizations are set up like the 49ers. Few have a harmonious flow from department to department, be it scouting to coaching, or nutrition to strength. Last week before the team’s victory over the Packers, when the 49ers altered their practice schedule to mirror the game time and (hopefully, somewhat) force the team to acclimate to colder temperatures, nearly every member of the staff had some hand in designing some aspect of the overarching game plan, right down to what compression layers the players would wear to best deflect the dipping temperatures.
Creating such a culture takes time, but often reaps its rewards in small, unnoticeable ways. In this case, maybe a time-bomb injury never detonates. Maybe some in an NFL ecosystem who are rightfully suspicious of opening up about their medical history will have a kind of Edward-ian revelation and begin to believe in the system.
The 49ers stay healthy in ways the lay person cannot imagine, from tiny electromagnetic pulsing bands to a “microdosing” program that prescribes tiny, precision movements.
But before we get into that, Zheng has a bit of a party trick.
