Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanner Quick.
Hi Tanner, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My story is a fairly simple one. Like many people who work in performance healthcare, I saw a need through my own athletic career and decided it was something I wanted to pursue. The further I get into my career, the more I realize that this is what God created me to do.
I grew up playing just about every sport I could get my hands on, from football, basketball, baseball, track, and soccer to even wrestling. As I got older, I narrowed my focus to football, basketball, and baseball. Eventually, that became football and basketball, mostly because I wasn’t very good at baseball!
Throughout my athletic career, particularly in high school and into college, I struggled with chronic knee pain. Having my first knee surgery at just 15 years old set me on what felt like a downward path. For the next nine years, that pain never seemed to go away. I went through the usual cycle of resting for a period of time, watching the pain subside, and then returning to sports only for it to come right back. No one seemed to have an answer. I learned to manage it with ibuprofen and a healthy dose of good old-fashioned American grit, but I could never seem to get past it.
Looking back, that experience has had a significant impact on the clinician I’ve become. I know what it’s like to be an athlete who wants nothing more than to get back on the field but feels stuck in a cycle of pain, rest, and reinjury. While I can’t change what I went through, I can use those experiences to help other athletes find answers, understand their injuries, and develop a plan to get back to doing what they love. In many ways, the frustration I experienced as an athlete has become part of the reason I do what I do today.
After high school, I was blessed with the opportunity to play college football, where the knee pain continued. Despite those challenges, I was fortunate to be part of some great teams and play for five seasons, including my redshirt year. Like just about every college football player, I was convinced an NFL career was waiting for me. As it turns out, I was pretty far off the mark. Thankfully, God had other plans.
During college, I initially wanted to become an athletic trainer. I loved sports and wanted to stay involved while helping athletes. When the head athletic trainer for our football team learned that I planned to play football while pursuing athletic training, he pulled me aside and recommended that I choose one or the other. So, being a red-blooded American, I obviously chose football. I then switched my degree from athletic training to aerospace engineering.
Just kidding! I became an exercise science major with plans of becoming a physical therapist.
Fast-forward four and a half years, and it was time to figure out my next steps. Remember, I still thought an NFL career was in the cards. With that in mind, I applied to one chiropractic school because they offered a good scholarship and I had some interest in the profession. My plan was to apply to additional schools, primarily physical therapy programs, once I made it to the NFL and established my professional football career.
As you might have guessed, things didn’t quite work out that way. It turns out the NFL’s demand for a slow, blocking tight end had peaked about 15–20 years before I arrived. My football career came to an abrupt end, and I was left to figure out what came next.
Looking back, I can see God’s hand in all of it. Shortly after it became clear that an NFL opportunity wasn’t going to materialize, my then-fiancée and I got married and began building our life together. With no real backup plan, an acceptance letter to the only school I had applied to, and a whole lot of uncertainty, my wife and I moved to Dallas, Texas, for graduate school.
It was there that I discovered the sports and performance side of chiropractic. For me, it was the perfect blend of everything I had wanted to do: stay connected to sports, work with athletes, and help people move and perform at their best.
We spent the next three and a half years in school, during which we welcomed two beautiful boys into our family and I earned my Doctor of Chiropractic degree. As graduation approached, the reality of providing for my growing family set in. We had little to no savings and four mouths to feed, so finding a job quickly became a priority.
That’s when a friend referred us to Alpha Sports Performance Medicine. After shadowing the team and spending a lot of time praying through several different opportunities, it became clear that the Lord was leading us to College Station, Texas, to begin the next chapter of our lives.
Four years later, College Station has become home. I’ve spent that time learning and growing, not only as a clinician but also as a husband, father, and man. What started as a desire to overcome my own athletic struggles and help other athletes has developed into something much bigger.
The further I get into this profession, the more I recognize that God was using every part of my journey, including the setbacks and the plans that didn’t work out, to lead me here. What I once viewed as the end of my athletic career was really the beginning of something entirely different.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not. In the book of James, we are reminded to find joy in the trials we face because those trials test our faith and produce perseverance. That has certainly been true in my life. By no means am I perfect. I stumble and fall more often than I’d like to admit, but looking back, I can see how the struggles I’ve faced have strengthened my faith and drawn me closer to God.
Graduate school in and of itself is grueling. Between the long hours in class, endless studying, and moving states away from nearly everything you’ve ever known, it’s a challenging season of life. Now, throw in a brand-new marriage, two children, a tornado that hit directly on our school, and a global pandemic, and things got a little crazy for a while. Oh, and I went bald through it all! Talk about kicking a man when he is down!
Each of those experiences brought its own set of challenges. There were times of uncertainty, stress, and trying to figure out what came next, all while learning how to be a husband, father, and future doctor. It wasn’t always easy, and I certainly didn’t handle every situation perfectly. But those seasons taught me that I wasn’t meant to navigate life on my own strength. Through each struggle, God continued to refine my faith, teach me perseverance, and remind me to depend on Him.
I wouldn’t change any of it for the world. Every struggle has taught me something different, brought me closer to God, and helped shape me into the man I am today. Those experiences have made me a better husband, father, and doctor. They’ve also influenced how I approach my work with patients.
In the clinic, we understand that meaningful adaptation and growth come from applying the right amount of stress to the body, allowing adequate recovery, and progressively challenging it to become stronger. Without that stimulus, the body has little reason to adapt. I believe there’s a similar principle in the way we grow through life’s challenges. While we certainly don’t seek out suffering, difficult seasons can develop perseverance, strengthen our character, and deepen our faith in ways that comfort and convenience often cannot.
Ultimately, both in rehab and in life, growth requires a process. We have to be willing to work through challenges, remain consistent, and trust that the process is producing something meaningful, even when we can’t see the results immediately. For me, that means continuing to trust God’s plan, knowing that the same struggles that challenge me can also be used to shape me into a better husband, father, doctor, and follower of Christ.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a sports chiropractor by trade, but when people ask me what I do, I tell them that I partner with God to help people feel better, move better, and live better. That’s what it’s all about for me.
I’m one of those weird chiropractors who does a whole lot more than just adjust people! At Alpha Sports Performance Medicine, we have a squat rack, kettlebells, a weight sled, a Rogue Echo Bike, and plenty of other tools that allow us to take a more active approach to care. We believe the human body was designed to move, and to move well. When it doesn’t, that’s often where problems begin.
My focus is on movement-based solutions for high school and college athletes, as well as tactical athletes like firefighters, law enforcement officers, and military personnel. These are people who ask a lot of their bodies, whether they’re competing on the field, serving their communities, or performing in physically demanding environments. My goal is to help them overcome injuries, improve how they move, build resilience, and get back to doing what they love.
What sets me apart is my approach to solving problems. I don’t believe in a cookie-cutter treatment plan or relying on passive treatments alone. Adjustments, soft tissue work, dry needling, and other hands-on techniques can all have their place, but I also want to understand why someone is having a problem and what we can do to address it. That often means combining hands-on treatment with movement assessments, corrective exercises, strength and stability work, and a plan tailored to the individual. I want patients to leave not only feeling better but also moving better and having a better understanding of their own bodies.
Ultimately, I’m not interested in simply getting someone out of pain long enough to send them right back into the same cycle. I want to help them build the capacity to handle the demands they’re placing on their bodies. Whether that’s a high school athlete trying to get back on the field, a college athlete looking to improve performance, or a firefighter preparing for the physical demands of the job, the goal is to find practical, individualized solutions that help them perform at their best.
What I’m most proud of is the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives. I get to work with people who are passionate about what they do and help them continue doing it. I also get to keep learning, growing, and improving as a clinician. At the end of the day, I view my work as more than treating injuries. It’s an opportunity to serve others, steward the abilities God has given me, and help people get back to living the lives they’ve been called to live.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Jesus Christ is real. He died for our sins and rose again so that we could have eternal life through Him. We spend so much of our lives worrying about what happens here and now, but the most important question we will ever answer is this: Where will you spend eternity? You have a choice to make, and eternity is too important to ignore.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://alphasports.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.tannerquick/
