Bringing Athletes Back To The Field

Trainer Karen Griffin, PT, has affected the success of countless athletes and the careers of many mentees.

By Collin France

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It is summer of 2025, and Star Physical Therapy’s Midtown clinic in Nashville, TN is busy with patients. I am a 20-year-old college athlete recovering from a hamstring injury, moving through fast paced exercises that include me bounding quickly across the room. PT/ATC Karen Griffin intently watches my movements to ensure that they are balanced, coordinated, and safe, but my huffing and puffing and Griffin’s intent gaze are comically interrupted as a 103-year-old patient awaiting her session jokingly exclaims, “I can do that too.”

Griffin’s warm laugh fills the room. “Not quite yet, but soon,” she teases, helping the older patient get settled and ready for her exercises.

The contrast is significant – The older patient’s goal is to walk in church without needing her walker, and my goal is to return to collegiate track and field at full strength. Regardless of the differences between us, Griffin treats us the same, giving her undivided attention and a loving desire for us to reach our goals.

Griffin’s work is not about rehabilitation, but rather about the transformation of both the bodies and minds of her patients. “My desire is to help individuals regain confidence in their bodies and reach their goal of returning to a functional state,” said Griffin.

She is able to do this because she knows when to push her patients, what exercises they should be doing, and when to offer them a word of reassurance, reminding them that they are not alone on their journey towards their goal.

Griffin’s skill set, knowledge, and confidence are some of her traits which allow her to fulfill her desire to help others. These traits are the result of her journey that began long before she stepped into STAR’s Midtown clinic. Her career molded the foundation of the physical therapist and mentor she is today. From her early days in physical therapy school at the University of Florida, to her time with national championship and Olympic teams, Griffin developed the tools she would need to transform the lives of her patients.

Training Olympic Athletes

Griffin first fell in love with sports, particularly basketball, from a young age, but it was not until junior year of high school that she would unknowingly ask a question that would impact the rest of her life.

“I went to the football coach and asked if I could help out with the team,” Griffin said.

Grateful for the extra help, the coach said that she could start the very next morning, if she could commit to two 5 a.m. practices a week. Griffin agreed to the task and made the commitment to help assist the team’s trainer throughout the season.

“I learned that I had a genuine interest in athletic training,” said Griffin.

After high school, Griffin went to the University of Florida, Gainesville where she worked as a student athletic trainer working with Gymnastics, Softball, and Track and Field teams. At the time there was not a formal athletic training major, so she designed her own major by taking classes that aligned with her interests in biology, kinesiology, and physiology finishing undergraduate school as a certified athletic trainer. Knowing that she wanted to combine athletic training with physical therapy, she applied to the University of Florida’s PT school, where she was accepted and continued straight into the program after finishing her undergraduate degree.

During her second Year of PT school, Griffin had an unexpected experience which changed the trajectory of her career.

The University of Florida hosted the United States vs Russia exhibition gymnastics meet, and Griffin was the attending trainer for the meet, and she worked, at the meet, alongside the team doctor who was traveling with the U.S. gymnastics team. During the meet, the team doctor pulled Griffin aside and told her that he was impressed with the way that Griffin was able to work so well with athletes she had never met. He asked if she had ever thought about applying to the Olympic Training Center. Interested in working with the best athletes in the world, Griffin applied.

“At first I didn’t hear anything. So, I thought, oh, well, and moved on to PT school,” said Griffin, “It wasn’t until it was time to do my internships for PT school that I heard I had been accepted to work a two-week internship at the Olympic Training center.”

She paused her final clinical rotations for PT school and took the opportunity at the Olympic Training center. Her work was constantly evaluated at the Olympic Training center, and her hard work and commitment paid off as she was selected as the trainer for the U.S. track and field teams for the Summer Olympics of Seol in 1988 and Sydney in 2000.

Becoming A Trainer, Physical Therapist, and Mentor

Between finishing PT school in 1983 and her time with the Olympic Teams. Griffin began her professional career at the Houston Sports Medicine Clinic in Columbus, Georgia where she began working closely with a rising, and now world renown, orthopedic surgeon, Dr. James Andrews, who valued her skill and invited her to move with him to Birmingham to help establish his new practice.

After some time with Dr. Andrews in Birmingham, Griffin relocated briefly to Nashville to work with Dr. Thomas Byrd, pioneering rehab for a new method of surgery, hip arthroscopy. It was during this time that “I helped lots of patients rehab from this new form of surgery, and I was able to share what we did in the publication [“Rehabilitation After Hip Arthroscopy” in the Journal of Sports Rehabilitation],” said Karen.

This led her to a one-year orthopedic fellowship in Northern California, where another door opened. As she neared the end of the program, Stanford’s head athletic trainer, who knew Griffin through the Olympic training center, asked if she could help with spring football. She accepted and was soon hired full-time.

During her time at Stanford, the women’s basketball athletic trainer left for PA school, and Griffin stepped into the role. This decision brought her back to the sport she first fell in love with – basketball.

During her with Stanford women’s basketball, she worked with athletes behind the scenes allowing them to win the national championship in 1992. Her expertise later earned her a spot traveling with the 1996 U.S. Women’s National Basketball Team.

Griffin’s time at Stanford ended as she returned to her hometown in South Carolina to care for her mother. Once her mother had recovered, she moved back to Nashville, working within the professional football scene before eventually settling into her current role at STAR Physical Therapy’s Midtown clinic where she has worked as a mentor for new physical therapists at Star Physical Therapy.

Griffin’s Impact on Athlete Success and Performance

Over her career, Griffin has impacted the athletes she worked with. Former Stanford basketball player and two-time national champion (1990 & 1992) Christina Macmurdo recalls Griffin having a role in keeping her healthy and performing at an elevated level.

Macmurdo underwent severe back surgery during her first year at Stanford and recalls a chance that she would never return to playing basketball at a high level. Griffin arrived at Stanford while Macmurdo was in the process of coming back from this injury and developed a rehab plan that eventually allowed Macmurdo to regain the strength and confidence needed to return to play and ultimately become a contributing member to the 1992 national championship team.

Macmurdo experienced other injuries like plantar fasciitis and patellar tendonitis, which she also worked with Griffin to overcome.

“Griffin was always there for me,” Macmurdo said. “I remember during a Christmas tournament down in Las Vegas, I had to knock on her door in the middle of the night because my feet were aching so badly from our game. I woke her up and she gave me Advil and did what she could to make my pain go away.”

Griffin’s Impact on Team Success

Over her career, Griffin impacted the teams she has worked with as well. Macmurdo attested to the immediate difference Griffin made on the team the moment she arrived as the athletic trainer for Stanford Women’s Basketball. The season prior to Griffin’s role as trainer, Stanford made it to the 1991 Final Four but was plagued by injuries.

“When Griffin arrived at the beginning of the 1992 season, everything changed,” said Macmurdo. Griffin understood the physical and emotional challenges that competing on the national stage demanded.

“With Stanford’s team being as talented as they were, they always made it into the postseason, which was grueling. With the intensity of practices, travel, everything, it’s really easy for players to reach a state of fatigue and become more susceptible to injury. That was especially the time when I had to be really on top of things with a number of our players,” said Griffin.

Griffin made individualized therapy plans for athletes and used treatments like ultrasound, electrical stimulation therapy, and acupuncture to contain these injuries to keep them functional.

“She was amazing because she kept us together with a shoestring,” Macmurdo said. She helped ensure a long run into the postseason, and the national championship for Stanford in 1992.

Mentorship and Teaching Style

Griffin has not only had an impact on the patients and teams she has worked with over the years, but she also has had an influence on younger physical therapists entering the field. DPT Erica Elsasser, a former student and colleague of Griffin’s during her time at Nashville Sports Medicine clinic and STAR PT, remembered her time learning from and working with Griffin as a transformative experience.

“I had job offers, in Nebraska and Colorado, but I chose to come to Nashville because I knew that working alongside Griffin would change the trajectory of my career,” said Elsasser.

Griffin’s experience meant she had unmatched knowledge of the body and methods of therapy for different injuries, but her most valuable lessons went beyond what any course could teach; they came from the way she engaged with her patients and collaborated with her colleagues. Griffin exemplifies how patient-centered care should work in every aspect.

“Griffin taught me that the most important thing is to make people feel like they really matter, no matter who they are, no matter their status, no matter if they are a big professional athlete or if they are just a mom wanting to run on the weekends or whatever in between,” said Elsasser.

Despite her extensive experience, as a mentor, she never made her students intimidated or unsure of themselves. By being an open book of knowledge, finding the strength of her students, and playing into those strengths all the while providing a model of excellent patient interaction and care, Griffin provided an unmatched mentor experience that shaped the next generation of clinicians.

Her impact is visible today as under the mentorship of Griffin, Elsasser became the director of her own clinic.

Overcoming Challenges

As Griffin journeyed through her career, she encountered significant challenges, but “no matter what has come her way, professionally personally, whatever, she just stays the course and is able to just continue to be herself and give her best in whatever she is doing,” said Elsasser.

During Griffin’s time in Birmingham with Dr. Andrews, she built a solid foundation and enjoyed working with a lot of high profile-athletes, but around the time that she really got settled changes began to happen in healthcare – rehab got bought out by a large corporation.

“The landscape of healthcare was that healthcare was becoming much more of a business-oriented service,” said Griffin.

This meant that clinics were becoming run like businesses rather than places of care, and decisions about patient treatment were being influenced by financial goals rather than the benefit of the patients’ health.

Being someone, whose work focused on relationships, integrity, and doing what was best for the patient, this change was alarming for Griffin. As a result, she made the difficult decision to leave her position in Birmingham with Dr. Andrews relocating to Nashville.

In addition to challenges that arose from changes in the profession, Griffin faced significant challenges as a female whose ambitions pushed the boundaries of lagging social norms. After years of unrivaled experience with high-level athletes, Griffin pursued an athletic training position with the Atlanta Falcons. Only to be met with outright disinterest in hiring a female trainer.

“I was young and on fire. I thought I could work anywhere. I had the experience and the knowledge, but I was about thirty years too early,” said Griffin.

Despite the changes in healthcare and the rejection she experienced, Griffin refused to let these challenges limit her career; she continued to work with athletes at the highest levels, paving the path for female trainers and therapists alike no matter the location or status of the clinics she worked in.

Griffin’s Extraordinary Impact On People‘s Health

Griffin’s career is not just significant because of the high-profile doctors or the top-tier athletes she worked with, but because of the lives she transformed along the way. From Olympic level athletes to elderly patients working towards independence, to young clinicians eager to learn and make a difference, Griffin has transformed every environment she has stepped into by giving her undivided attention and a loving desire for each of her patients to reach their goals.

Out of empathy and compassion Griffin made authentic connections with her patients – from the early mornings in high school as an assistant trainer for the football team, to the Olympic stage, to the sidelines of Stanford Basketball, to STAR PT’s Midtown clinic. This allowed her to make an impact on the patients she worked with throughout her career, and as a result she achieved prestige. Her influence lives on championship banners, Olympic medals, and athletes with whom she helped regain confidence and strength after injury, but her influence is not limited to the athletes and teams she has helped. Her experience, knowledge, and love have been poured into the next generation of trainers and therapists, and her legacy will continue to better the lives of others.

Griffin is a professional who combines elite knowledge and skill with genuine kindness, a mentor who elevates others, and a pioneer who has contributed to new rehab methods, pushed through social barriers, and influenced the next generation. For those fortunate enough to cross her path, Griffin is more than a physical therapist; she is the epitome of healthcare rooted in excellence and love.