The Cross-Body Block
Prevention of injury has been a primary focus of Tom Peterson's
career
 Tom
Peterson (M.D. 1953, Residency 1958) has a face that was seen
around the world in 1950, when LIFE magazine's article featuring
all four Michigan Medical School classes focused on him as
a representative of the freshman class. When he wasn't engrossed
in his medical studies, Peterson also played football for Michigan
from 1947-49, which included a memorable trip to the Rose Bowl
under Coach Fritz Crisler.
Peterson went on to choose orthopaedics as his specialty.
A pioneer in sports medicine, he is a founding member of the
American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. Peterson
never strayed far from the gridiron, however, and devoted a
great deal of time and energy to studying football's cross-body
block.
"I'd witnessed so many injuries with this block in my studies
at Michigan, Michigan State and Eastern Michigan Universities, as well as Michigan high schools. I wanted to change certain
aspects of the game in order to decrease injuries," he remembers. "After
doing a number of studies on knee injuries, I approached the
Rules Committee of the National Collegiate Athletic Association
about different forms of blocking at knee level and their relationship
to injuries."
As a result of Peterson's vigilant lobbying, the cross-body
block became illegal in college football in 1972, and high
school rules were amended a few years later.
Even with better rules and improved equipment, young people
still face risks in athletic competition. Orthopaedics has
changed over the years, Peterson says, so more injuries are
treatable surgically and the many assistive devices — such
as the arthroscope — all work to make treatment and recovery
easier and faster.
Peterson is proud of being featured in Life magazine and proud,
too, of helping the Wolverines score a huge win (49-0) over
the University of Southern California in the 1948 Rose Bowl.
But he's most proud of the difference he's made to young athletes
in terms of injury prevention.
"Achieving prevention is even better than providing the best
medical care to someone who is already injured," Peterson says.
-MBR
ALSO:
Coming
Back to Ann Arbor: 
Life Revisited
The Cross-Body Block
Medicine, 46; Football, 5
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