BERLIN — A local company that has quietly been providing custom orthotics to professional, collegiate and Olympic athletes for decades last week hosted an NFL team at a special reception as part of the Ed Block Courage Awards in Baltimore.
Foot Management, a small but highly successful custom orthotics company based in Pittsville, has been hobnobbing with NFL bigwigs and other professional, collegiate and Olympic athletes for years. Most recently, Foot Management hosted a dinner at Phillips in Baltimore for the athletic training staff of the St. Louis, and soon-to-be Los Angeles, Rams. The Rams training staff was honored this year by the Professional Athletic Trainers Society as the NFL’s Training Staff of the Year and Foot Management was on hand to help with the celebration.
The PFATS each year recognizes one NFL training staff for their distinguished service to their club, the community and the athletic training profession and this year the Rams’ staff was recognized during the annual Ed Block Courage Awards. The annual awards are dedicated to Ed Block, who was the head trainer for the Baltimore Colts from 1954 to 1977.
Foot Management President and founder Jack Kaeufer has been hosting the celebratory event for the last 30 years. This year’s attendees included the training staffs of the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers, Buffalo Bills, St. Louis Rams, Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans along with the training staff f the University of Maryland and others.
Last year at this time, Foot Management was recognized by NFL trainers with a special award at the NFL combine. All of the head trainers of the NFL teams were on hand to present Kaeufer and his staff with a beautiful crystal football trophy. Kaeufer and Foot Management created a custom orthotic device for a player for the Redskins back in 1978. Since then, Foot Management in Pittsville has provided services to the Redskins, the Baltimore Colts, the Baltimore Ravens, the Dallas Cowboys, the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders, the Washington Bullets, and later the Wizards, among others. Foot Management now provides services to all NFL teams and many other professional sports teams along with Olympic athletes.
“We have, over the years, built trust with our clients,” said Kaeufer this week. “They know we will provide them with custom, hand-made, high quality devices. No pre-made parts are ever used in the fabrication of our devices. Our slogan is ‘Made with Pride by People Who Care.’ We are not a big company and don’t want to be. We just want to be the best.”
Kaeufer said the quiet little company has been providing the custom devices to some of the top athletes in the country and around the world for years with little or no fanfare.
“You may not have heard of us,” he said. “We don’t blow our horn or brag about the athletes we work on. We believe it is private information for the athlete and the team, but if you’re watching any collegiate, professional or Olympic sport, chances are someone’s feet have Foot Management products on them.”
