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He learned the Nighthawks would have a chiropractor, Dr. Jeffrey Holtz of Holtz Family Chiropractic, joining the team's staff. Holtz will visit practice once a week and travel to games.
"I was like, 'Hey, great. New stadium, team chiropractor. What's next?'" Potts said. "I'm all for it. I asked if coaches are eligible for it. We'll find out."
The program intends to help players recover quicker from practices and games. Between 15 and 20 junior varsity and varsity players registered for the program, a trial offered just for the football team.
"When you align the spine, the nerves can work optimally," Holtz said. "With an adjustment, it's been proven to increase circulation. You get more blood flowing to the muscles and joints. That's the accelerated recovery of it."
Holtz, who competed in track while in high school, comes from a family who relies on chiropractic care. He began visiting a chiropractor at age 9, and his father, Larry Holtz, has done so since he was a child, too. The elder Holtz credits it for helping him through his work in coal mines.
Larry missed two or three months when he was caught under some rocks in a minor collapse in 1988. Five years later, he and some workers were building walls in a mine but had to rush out because of high methane levels. His back locked up as he worked while hunched over.
"They finally got me outside, and I couldn't move," Holtz said. "I went to a medical doctor first, and they were giving me some steroid shots. It wasn't doing anything."
Doctors recommended surgery that could leave him unable to walk, but he decided to go to the company's chiropractor. He was in a brace for three weeks and was able to work after a month.
"The doctor said it was pretty impressive," said Holtz, who left his job in the mines in 2000.
At age 12, his son told him he wanted to call the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Iowa and ask about curriculum to join the field.
"I thought no boy's really sure (what he wants to do)," Holtz said. "He had his mind pretty well set. It was a pretty neat conversation with him at 12 years old. I never tried to talk him out of it."
His son came to appreciate chiropractic care because of what his father had gone through.
"I saw what a chiropractor did with him with those injuries," Jeffrey said. "To this day, he still hasn't had the surgery. He can still go out in the yard and throw the ball with us. He can still play golf.
"From that point on, I realized that was what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to do something medically related. I'm very hands on."
He hopes his time with the Nighthawks is the first step in his sports career. Holtz already has worked college track meets and the U.S. Open golf tournament. His dream is to work with the United States' Olympic team, which, he said, requires two years of working with a team before trying out at the facility in Colorado Springs, Colo.
"I love sports," he said. "And to give back to the country like that would be really cool."
Daniel Paulling is a sports reporter for The Evening Sun. Reach him at dpaulling@eveningsun.com.
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