Forty Under 40: Dr. Steve Whitelaw

Instead of the soft background music heard in most doctor offices, the Arkansas Razorback fight song blares in Dr. Steve Whitelaw’s work space.

Since the beginning of the 1997 football season, he has worked as the Hogs’ team chiropractor. Whitelaw attends home games for baseball and men’s basketball, as well as all football games and track-and-field events.

He said he arrives at the games about three hours before the jump ball or kickoff. Whitelaw sees 120-150 patients per week, and players take up about 10 percent of his total patient schedule. Whitelaw said he primarily provides care for starters and their backups.

Referrals from the team also boost his client list. The university athletes generate about 30 percent of the chiropractor’s business.

Now a 34-year-old father of two, Whitelaw wants to help other Southeastern Conference schools make room for a team chiropractor. He was the first team chiropractor in the SEC, and six of the 12 teams rely on them now.

Whitelaw grew up in Magnolia, served as vice president of his class at Parker College of Chiropractic in Dallas, and performed a one-year sports fellowship at Logan College of Chiropractic in Phoenix, Ariz.