Joseph Torg, Doctor Who Fought to Lessen Football Injuries, Dies at 88 - The New York Times

Dr. Joseph Torg, an orthopedic surgeon whose acquisition treating and researching shot players’ spinal-cord injuries made him a beardown dependable successful the 1970s for banning a unsafe tackling method successful precocious schools and colleges, died connected Dec. 15 astatine his location successful Wayne, Pa. He was 88.

His daughter, Elisabeth Torg, confirmed the decease but did not mention a cause.

By the mid-1970s, Dr. Torg was good known for his sports-related activities. A erstwhile violative defender for Haverford College, helium was the doc for respective Philadelphia teams and was often quoted connected players’ injuries. He opened 1 of the archetypal sports medicine and rehabilitation centers successful the United States astatine Temple University. And helium testified successful a lawsuit successful New Jersey that led Little League Baseball to extremity its boys-only policy.

He was alarmed by a spate of spinal-cord shot injuries caused by spearing — a method that involves a subordinate lowering his head, bending his cervix and launching himself into an opponent, utilizing the apical of his helmet arsenic a battering ram.

“If these forces are greater than the elastic capabilities of the spine,” Dr. Torg explained successful a 1992 video narrated by Dick Vermeil, the erstwhile Philadelphia Eagles coach, “the spinal segments volition buckle.”

In 1975, helium told The Associated Press that the N.C.A.A. and the National Federation of State High School Athletic Associations were “derelict successful their work to safeguard the wellness and well-being of young men playing football” and urged them to alteration their rules.

He teamed up that twelvemonth with Ted Quedenfeld, Temple’s caput diversion trainer, to cod information astir the fig of spinal-cord injuries successful the United States that had been caused by spearing. They called the task the National Football Head and Neck Injury Registry.

Around that time, a workfellow said, Dr. Torg enactment further unit connected the N.C.A.A.

“As I remember, helium threatened the N.C.A.A. that if they didn’t institute the rule, he’d sue,” Dr. Raymond Moyer, a prof of orthopedic country and sports medicine astatine the School of Medicine astatine Temple, said successful a telephone interview. “He didn’t backmost down from anyone.”

The N.C.A.A. and precocious schools banned spearing successful 1976. The N.F.L. followed suit successful 1979, mostly arsenic a effect of a paralyzing deed to the helmet of Darryl Stingley, a New England Patriots receiver, a twelvemonth earlier.

The registry’s archetypal findings, published successful 1979 successful The American Journal of Sports Medicine, documented 259 cervical spine fractures and dislocations among precocious school, assemblage and different shot players betwixt 1971 and 1975. Ninety-nine of the players became imperishable quadriplegics.

But spearing would ne'er beryllium afloat eradicated, and neither would the anticipation of spinal-cord injuries.

In 1 of the astir celebrated incidents, Marc Buoniconti, a linebacker astatine the South Carolina subject assemblage the Citadel, became a quadriplegic successful 1985 aft tackling a moving backmost from East Tennessee State University. Three years later, erstwhile Buoniconti sued the Citadel’s squad doc for negligence, Dr. Torg testified for the defense, arguing that Buoniconti had speared his hostile and bore work for his injury.

“What we are dealing with arsenic acold arsenic causation is not a aesculapian problem,” Dr. Torg said. “What we are dealing with arsenic acold arsenic causation is simply a coaching method problem.”

The assemblage exonerated the Citadel’s doctor.

Joseph Steven Torg was calved connected Oct. 25, 1934, successful Philadelphia. His father, Jay, was an security salesman. His mother, Elva (May) Torg, was a telephone operator.

He earned a bachelor’s grade astatine Haverford College successful 1957. Four years later, helium received his aesculapian grade from Temple.

Ms. Torg said successful an email that her begetter astir apt pursued orthopedics “because of his emotion of shot and his ain acquisition with diversion wounded (concussion) successful precocious school.”

“When helium graduated aesculapian school,” she said, “orthopedic country was the astir sports-oriented tract successful medicine and the tract that enabled him to dainty athletes.”

After interning astatine San Francisco General Hospital (now Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center) from 1961 to 1962, Dr. Torg spent 2 years successful the Army Medical Corps. Following his residencies astatine Temple University Hospital and Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children (now Shriners Children’s Philadelphia), helium began teaching astatine Temple successful 1968.

He soon became wide known. In 1970, helium and Mr. Quedenfeld released a survey that recovered accepted shot shoes, with 7 cleats each three-quarters of an inch long, were acold much liable for genu and ankle injuries than shot shoes with 14 shorter cleats.

Three years later, helium testified successful a situation successful New Jersey to the regularisation that prevented girls from playing Little League baseball. At a proceeding of the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights, Dr. Torg refuted claims by Creighton J. Hale, a Little League Baseball executive, that pistillate bones were not arsenic beardown arsenic antheral bones; successful fact, helium said, due to the fact that girls matured earlier than boys, it was imaginable that their bones were stronger.

A proceeding serviceman ruled that the regularisation prohibiting girls from participating successful Little League successful New Jersey violated authorities and national anti-discrimination laws — a determination that helped pb the nationalist Little League enactment to fto girls play the adjacent year.

In 1974, Dr. Torg and Mr. Quedenfeld opened the Center for Sports Medicine and Science astatine Temple to dainty players from colleges and section nonrecreational sports teams, arsenic good arsenic recreational athletes.

Dr. Torg near Temple successful 1978 to articulation the School of Medicine astatine the University of Pennsylvania, wherever helium established different sports medicine center; helium worked astatine the assemblage until 1994. He joined MCP-Hahnemann University School of Medicine successful 1995 and taught determination for 7 years earlier returning to Temple.

Among Dr. Torg’s achievements was popularizing a speedy and noninvasive trial that had been conceived by a mentor, Dr. John W. Lachman, to diagnose a genu wounded communal to athletes: a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

“It changed everything,” Dr. John Kelly IV, a prof of orthopedic country astatine the University of Pennsylvania, said successful a telephone interview. “Many tears were being misdiagnosed arsenic sprained knees, and radical went retired and got much injured.”

At antithetic points betwixt the 1970s and the 1990s, Dr. Torg was the squad doc successful Philadelphia for the 76ers, the Flyers, the Eagles, the Freedoms of World Team Tennis, the Atoms of the North American Soccer League and the Temple shot team.

Doug Collins, an All-Star defender who joined the 76ers successful 1973 and was often treated by Dr. Torg, said successful an email: “He tried to enactment maine backmost unneurotic thru galore ft & genu injuries. He knew however severely I wanted to play & connected galore occasions tried to support maine from myself.”

In summation to his daughter, Dr. Torg is survived by his wife, Barbara (Groenendaal) Torg; his sons, Joseph Jr. and Jay; and 7 grandchildren.

In 1991, Dr. Torg created a grading strategy to find the severity of a concussion — 1 of the astir vexing problems successful football, arsenic good arsenic successful soccer, hockey and different sports.

Dr. Joseph Maroon, a consulting neurosurgeon to the Pittsburgh Steelers and a prof of neurological country astatine the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said that Dr. Torg’s strategy was the inspiration for the neurocognitive investigating that helium helped create to measure the severity of a concussion and an athlete’s quality to instrumentality to play. That investigating is present the modular of attraction successful the N.F.L.

“We truly followed up connected Joe’s enactment and computerized it,” Dr. Maroon said. “He was avant-garde and scholarly.”