The day Notre Dame football’s MVP was a DC

When a single kick stood between the University of Notre Dame’s football team and the chance to compete in the national championships, it was a doctor of chiropractic, Andrew Jeter, DC, who just might have tipped the scales in favor of the Irish.

 

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The January 9 semifinal game against Penn State was tied 24-24, with seven seconds left to play. Kicking a long-shot 41-yard field goal was Notre Dame’s only viable option for emerging victorious, and Notre Dame’s star kicker, Mitch Jeter, was still recovering from a groin injury. Typically, that can take anywhere from several weeks to several months.

But Jeter’s recovery wasn’t typical.

Dad, DC

Mitch Jeter’s father, Andrew Jeter, DC, a doctor of chiropractic with a thriving practice in Salisbury, North Carolina, had taken charge of his son’s injury care right after it happened, back in October during a game against Stanford.

Mitch realized he had injured himself and texted his parents about it right away. Andrew, a 1993 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic with 31 years of experience as a DC, immediately realized the gravity of the situation.

“The hamstring and the groin are the worst-case scenarios,” Andrew, 57, told the Wall Street Journal, which published a story about the Jeters on its website January 11 as well as in its January 13 print edition.

Chiropractic to the rescue

That’s when Andrew sprang into action. For the next several weeks he spent Monday through Thursday treating patients at Jeter Chiropractic Clinic in North Carolina, then on Fridays traveled to wherever Notre Dame was playing to perform head-to-toe chiropractic adjustments on his son. He continued the routine as Mitch returned to play, disastrously at first; Mitch missed four out of the five field goal kicks he attempted over the course of four games.

And then Notre Dame was in the semifinals, tied at 24-24, and the coach, Marcus Freeman, had to make a decision.

It was a high-stress moment, given Mitch’s injury and Notre Dame’s shot at making a championship appearance hanging in the balance. It would be their first since 2013 if Mitch’s kick was a good one.

He put Mitch in. “There is no moment too big for Mitch Jeter,” Freeman told the Wall Street Journal.

And Mitch made the kick, the first time he had kicked a game-winning field goal.

Mitch’s (and Andrew’s) big moment….