It’s practice time for the AU baseball team. Baseballs hurl through the air at high speeds. Bodies dive and gloves thump against the floor. Bats swing and crack. And all the while, Steve Risinger sits patiently and quietly in the Ward Fieldhouse, typing at his laptop. He glances up from time to time to watch the players, but keeps a low profile. His life has slowed down quite a bit, and he’s grateful for the change. It has given him the chance to be more attentive to his family. As a veteran athletic trainer, Risinger boasts an impressive history that includes his undergraduate at AU, a Super Bowl ring, and the 2000 Distinguished Athletic Trainer award from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. In a roundabout way, he can also claim a hand in the recent Colts’ Super Bowl appearance.

Back in the Ward Fieldhouse, Risinger notes, “During practice, we just watch and wait. Before and after practice is when the real work happens.” Risinger and the group of student athletic trainers are spread out across the Fieldhouse, watching and waiting to help anyone they can. The story behind all Risinger’s successes reveals that same attitude of “watching and waiting.” He took the opportunities before him, built relationships, and served others to the best of his ability.

At 20 years old, young Risinger found himself in an enviable position: through the help of some professional friends, he was working as a preseason athletic trainer for the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs. At that time in the late 1960s, the role of the athletic trainers was still forming, and the science was primitive—icing and heating were among the very limited treatments practiced. Meanwhile, life went on for Risinger as he completed his Masters at Ball State University and returned to AU as an athletic trainer. When he began work at AU, Risinger was the only athletic trainer in the Conference. He went on to develop a well respected athletic training program for the university, the first accredited program of its kind in the state of Indiana. His experience within the NFL was also growing as he moved to training with the Chicago Bears during the summer months. Although he hadn’t intended to work with the Bears for more than a year, he continued to receive invitations and returned for 9 seasons. When he left, it was with valuable experience and a 1986 Super Bowl XX ring.

Meanwhile, back in Anderson, a new franchise had moved into the neighboring metropolis of Indianapolis by the name of the Colts. Risinger began working with the Colts players during their preseason training camp on the AU grounds, helping train some of the now-famous Colts players such as punter Hunter Smith. However, Risinger’s main dedication was to his students, who were involved in the quickly evolving field of sports medicine. Throughout the years, Risinger has expanded the curriculum to prepare students for a variety of different situations in allied medical fields including physical therapy and pharmacy. “I think the program fits the mission of the University, which is serving others,” Risinger said. He credits much of his growth in the field to Bob Spacklin, a mentor who encouraged him as he began this journey. “Hopefully I’m doing that for my students,” Risinger humbly mused.

Risinger served as Director of Sports Medicine at AU until he resigned in 2006 to spend more time with his family. He and his wife Barbara, the granddaughter of the late AU professor John D. Crose, have three sons, Nicholas, Ben, and Steve. Their youngest, Nicholas, is a senior at AU, while Ben is working in public relations in Orlando. Steve is in architect working in Anderson who, incidentally, was a part of a massive project several years ago designing a college exercise facility—AU’s Kardatzke Wellness Center. All throughout his life are the weavings of a grand story and simultaneously an attitude of patience and a desire to serve whoever may cross his path. Risinger understands that, “God does have a plan, though we may not understand it.” And as he enjoys the slower pace of his life with his family, he continues his good work at AU preparing the next generation of physical therapists and athletic trainers to help serve others. The rest of his legacy remains a lesson of patience, of simply “watching and waiting.”