As Rams senior vice president of sports medicine and performance Reggie Scott received the Fain-Cain Memorial Award for Outstanding NFL Athletic Trainer of the Year from the NFL Physicians Society (NFLPS), the first thing he thought about was the congratulatory video.
Among those sharing those messages were former Panthers players he worked with in Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith Sr., as well as Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and former Rams Steven Jackson and Aaron Donald. And in those messages, they spoke to the level of care they got and the appreciation they had for Scott, who entered the NFL ranks in 2003 with Carolina.
"It brought a lot of joy and a lot of purpose to me, in terms of confirmation on why I do what I do," Scott told theRams.com. "It's to be able to care for the athletes. And obviously (to) see my family up there and how much they've been there for me, it gave me a lot of purpose in what it is and why I do what I do."
The NFLPS presented Scott the award for the 2025 season at its annual scientific meeting it hosts during the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
"It means a ton, and what I mean by that is it was an overwhelming experience of joy," Scott said. "It was just a really humbling experience... An overwhelming feeling of joy is probably the biggest way to explain it, and I don't know if I processed it yet in terms of what it means."
Named for Dr. Thomas E. Cain, M.D., and Dr. Robert H. Fain, M.D., both long-time team physicians for the former Houston Oilers, the award was established shortly after Dr. Cain's death and Dr. Fain's retirement. It is given annually to an NFL athletic trainer who best reflects the virtues of a certified athletic trainer and displays the highest level of professionalism.
"Congratulations to Reggie for this well-deserved honor," said Dr. James Voos, NFLPS president and head team physician for the Cleveland Browns, in a release from the NFLPS. "He has the unique qualities of uniting people, pushing innovation and putting the care of players first. I have experienced this firsthand working together in our leadership positions."
"Reggie Scott exemplifies everything the Fain Cain Award stands for: exceptional care, tireless dedication, and an unwavering commitment to player health and safety," said Bryan "Flea" Engel, president of Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society (PFATS) and director of sports medicine/head athletic trainer for the Green Bay Packers, in the same release. "This honor is truly well deserved. Beyond his leadership and innovation in athletic training, he has advanced the profession through his guidance as PFATS President and the mentorship he provides to countless athletic trainers nationwide. On a personal level, I'm proud to call him a friend and mentor. He has earned the respect of the NFLPS physicians, the countless players he has cared for, and the exceptional staff he works alongside every day."
Scott has been with the Rams for 16 seasons. When he was hired as head athletic trainer in 2010 by the team, he became the youngest in the modern era. Scott previously served as president of PFATS from 2020-2023, helping advance the profession and mentor athletic trainers league-wide.
"Reggie has been steadfast in his commitment to elite player health and safety year after year," said Dr. Casey Batten, Rams head team physician, in the NFLPS release. "He has led by example and has gained unconditional trust from players, coaches, and staff due to his mantra of 'putting the human first.' Reggie empowers, yet challenges, his staff on a daily basis to continue to push boundaries and explore novel strategies to perpetuate a winning culture. The entire Rams organization is incredibly proud of this wonderful career achievement and hope that the standard Reggie has set will continue to shape the future of Athletic Training."
According to Sports Info Solutions, the Rams had the second-fewest games missed due to injury with 145 for the 2025 regular season. Especially since the start of the Sean McVay era in 2017, they have consistently been one of the healthiest teams in the league.
Aaron Schatz, who has been doing NFL analytics for more than 20 years, has a metric called Adjusted Games Lost, which estimates the impact of injuries on teams. The metric has the Rams ranked in the top 10 for fewest injuries in six of eight seasons from 2017-2024 (AGL data for 2025 has yet to be published).
"I mean, (head) coach (Sean McVay) always says it, and it's the truth, it's about the people, and it's the same in my field, right?" Scott said. "The people that we have in this ecosystem, from our strength staff, our athletic training staff, our doctors, our nutrition, sports science, I got such an elite staff, such elite doctors, great people in the building. Working with coach and (general manager) Les (Snead) and (chief operating officer) Tony (Pastoors) and all those guys, in terms of creating alignment and a philosophy that we all believe in, is so critical in that piece. And then I think the last people, you talk about people, it's the players. I mean, having players that really, truly believe in the environment that we're trying to create for them to maximize their health, wellness and performance, it also makes it easy for us to try to create that environment for their availability. It is a people's business, and I'm fortunate to be around a lot of great people that dominate their roles day in and day out."
Besides former players and sports medicine colleagues, Snead and McVay were also among those who congratulated Scott in that video.
"Reggie, congratulations on the Fain-Cain Memorial Award. You're so well deserving," Rams head coach Sean McVay said in the video. "You are the best in the world at what you do, but more importantly, you're such a special person. You've made me better in every part of my life. You obviously influence and affect positive change with everybody that you're around, situations you're a part of. You're the best. Grateful to be on this journey. Love you. Well deserved and well earned, my friend."
Founded in 1966, the NFLPS is dedicated to supporting team physicians and athletic trainers while ensuring the highest standard of medical and surgical care for NFL athletes.
In receiving that award from the organization, and more importantly the confirmation he got from the players he has treated throughout his career, it gave confirmation to Scott on the human element of caring for people, which he said is what he loves the most.
"You felt that more than anything," Scott said. "And what you get out of that is, caring for people is everything. And there's a lot of different ways of doing that, in terms of the medical profession, right? If you're a nurse, if you're whatever (type of caregiver).
"But at the end of the day, when you're in the medical field, in the caregiving business, it's about caring for individuals and trying to help them get through their medical conditions. And that was a take-home for me, to continue to carry on – at the end of the day in all of this that we do, it's about caring for humans."
