Mike Kelly is an active guy.
His job keeps him on his toes in more ways than one. Since becoming the voice of the Missouri Tigers in 1994, Mike hasn’t missed a football game, a streak of 372 radio broadcasts. He also prefers to call games standing up so he can see the whole field from the top of Memorial Stadium.
When that streak continues August 29 for the Tigers’ opening game of the 2024 season against Murray State, an even longer streak will have come to an end: Mike’s knee pain from osteoarthritis.
“I started running a substantial amount in 1991 after my wife and I had twins, 26 miles per week,” said Mike, who is also the voice of Mizzou men’s basketball games. “Took off one morning going up the hill in our neighborhood and got about a block and it was done. I saw a doctor and found out that it was bone on bone at that point in time.”
Mike had two microfracture surgeries on his left knee in the 1990s and was advised to stop running. His doctors at the time also told him he’d need a knee replacement within five years. He took up golfing and a gym routine that didn’t strain his knee, though pain would still flare up. Mike would often leave football games with a swollen joint after standing for three hours.
“Once you suffer an injury like that, there are so many triggers,” Mike said. “Walking up stairs, stepping incorrectly, walking on a grass field, any movement that creates a jarring impact on the joint is a reminder you’ve got a bad knee.”
He dealt with that constant discomfort until Labor Day of 2023. During a game of catch in the pool, Mike made a leaping grab and came down hard on his left foot. He had reinjured his knee and severely worsened the joint damage caused by his arthritis.
More than 20 years after he was told he would need a knee replacement, Mike started wondering if it was finally time. He turned to a familiar face from football practices for advice, orthopaedic surgeon and team physician Clayton Nuelle, MD.
As the team physicians for Mizzou Athletics, MU Health Care’s sports medicine doctors and specialists at the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute offer world-class care to all athletes, both on and off the playing field.
“Clay has become a very dear friend, and I just knew based on the relationship that we had developed, that I trusted him, number one, and that I could listen to him and understand that my best interests were in his heart,” Mike said. “He didn’t jump right to surgery, we tried other options first, and I found it very helpful how he allowed me time to make what I thought was the right decision.”
The two worked together to get Mike through football season and most of basketball season with minimal pain, using physical therapy, injections and other forms of therapy. Eventually, Mike’s decision was clear.
“Mike had severe osteoarthritis, where he had lost a significant amount of the normal cartilage in his joint, resulting in joint swelling and inflammation and pain with activity,” Dr. Nuelle said. “Performing a total knee replacement for someone with that much cartilage loss restores the range of motion, functionality and mobility of the joint and gets people back to their hobbies and daily lives.”
Dr. Nuelle’s team, including athletic trainers Kasey Currence and Tammy Young, helped Mike through every step of the process. The team created a plan that was tailored to his needs, from the timing of the procedure to a step-by-step approach to recovery that matched his goals and active lifestyle.
Dr. Nuelle also used robot-assisted surgery to plan and perform Mike’s total knee replacement, creating a 3D model of the native joint anatomy to make the replacement as precise as possible.
“Knowing that you aren’t relying on one person’s precision, that this was another tool to make sure I had the right outcome, gave me a lot of comfort,” Mike said, “Overall, the people at MU Health Care were so professional and gave me that level of comfort from surgical planning to check-in that morning to waking up from surgery, even the size of the scar. I couldn’t be more pleased.”
Mike did all his inpatient rehab work with physical therapists and other specialists at the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute. His dedicated approach to recovery meant less than three months later, on a vacation to Italy with his wife, he had no limitations — and no pain — on walking tours.
In early July, he and some friends went to Oregon for a long weekend of golf. Mike shot better than he expected after taking time away from the game and walked 90 holes in four days with no issue.
“Both trips, I was excited about just being out there,” he said. “Not being restricted, being able to walk and enjoy the weather without problems because of the knee. From that standpoint, I was so satisfied and just excited about the way things went.”
With the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute minutes from home, Mike had easy access to comprehensive orthopaedic care from experts who help world-class athletes stay at, or get back to, the top of their game.
“Being able to offer this level of care to someone of Mike’s stature, the voice of the Tigers, but to our athletes and also to every patient that we take care of is unbelievable,” Dr. Nuelle said. “It's one of the reasons that I love it here. We have the people, the expertise and the technology to provide great care for all our patients from start to finish.”
That kind of detailed, high-level care takes teamwork Mike often sees on fall Saturdays.
“In my role, I see the enthusiasm from players and coaches throughout practices and games, I see the collaboration that takes place,” Mike said. “You absolutely see that at MU Health Care as well. Doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, physical therapists, operating room techs, everyone works in concert to make sure you as a patient have the best possible outcome.”