THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JAnUAry 20, 2023 Page 7 “The Old Sachem” Trouble in Football By Bill Stewart Y ou’ve all heard of the case of Damar Hamlin, a safety for the Buff alo Bills, who suffered cardiac arrest a couple of weeks ago. He’s home now from the hospital and watched his team beat the Miami Dolphins last Sunday. He was very fortunate that the NFL requires a tent with an x-ray machine along with special medical personnel, including an ambulance. Most football players are not as lucky. They often don’t have medical personnel to instantly attend to a drastic condition. And not all conditions are drastic. David Andrews, the Patriots center, said that he and most offensive players get mild concussions on each play. That is probably why many NFL players die before 60 years. Doctor Joseph Torg, an orthopedic surgeon who died recently, back in the 1970s forced the NFL to stop the practice of spearing, where a defensive player lowers his head and uses it as a battering ram, which sometimes led to spinal cord injuries. In SELECTMEN| FROM PAGE 6 information it is seeking and hope to come up with a path for us to provide those benefi ts,” he said. Cogliano and Selectman Corinne Riley voted in favor of Cicolini’s amendment which created the current proposal last September. Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Debra Panetta and Selectman Michael Serino – both staunch opponents of any expansion of the ash landfi ll – voted against it. A major obstacle to any deal will be whether the DEP will allow extending the life of the ash landfi ll. DEP offi cials have stated repeatedly over the past year that existing environmental laws and regulations do not permit expansion of the ash landfi ll at the WIN site near its trash-to-energy incinerator on Route 107. “The fi nancial implications for our Town are not clear in this agreement. I also do not think that our Town should be penalized if capital improvements are needed at the WIN Waste landfi ll,” Panetta said. “Remember, they are pur1975 he told the Associated Press that the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the National Federation of State High School Associations were derelict in their duty to protect football players. Both organizations and the NFL changed their practice and banned spearing. Dr. Torg’s research and his demands changed the results. From 1976 to 1984, the number of cervical spine fractures/ dislocations fell from 110 to 42 and the number of players who suff ered from quadriplegia fell from 34 to fi ve. The New England Patriots of 2001 are an example of the tragic results of the game. Seven members of this winning team died by the age of 50. A 2019 study of NFL players from 1979 to 2013 found that the average life span was 59.6 years. Some of the deceased Patriots were among the 24 2001 players who had symptoms of football-related brain injuries, according to their claims which were paid by the NFL to settle the claims. In 2005 ex-Patriot Ted Johnson was the fi rst to pledge donachasing emission credits from more effi cient facilities so that they can continue to pollute more in Saugus. They cannot get to the 150 PPM nitrogen oxide standard; and even with this agreement, they will not meet the standard without buying credits,” she said. “I believe that WIN Innovations should do whatever they can to keep Saugus residents, and our neighboring communities, safe from the poisons from both the fl y ash and the ash in the Landfi ll,” she said. “Some of the improvement being proposed in the agreement regarding heavy metals in our neighborhoods should be undertaken regardless of a host agreement ---- it’s a public health and safety issues. After all, we do host the oldest incinerator in the nation.” Ultimately, Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree and the Board of Health would be involved in the ultimate decision on any deal with WIN. “This isn’t something that’s going to happen overnight. We need to have our own strategy,” Crabtree said. “I think they need to come back first with some“The Old Sachem,” Bill Stewart tion of their brains to Boston University researchers after the player’s death. The University has proclaimed that of the players studied, 99% had Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative disease of the brain found in people with repeated head trauma. It’s time that all levels of sports pay more attention to injury. The data of sports, such as soccer and fi eld hockey, also show sizable head injuries. Teams must be more attentive to concussion and all other injuries that may last for the life of the player. (Editor’s Note: Bill Stewart, better known to Saugus Advocate readers as “The Old Sachem,” writes a weekly column about sports – and sometimes he opines on current or historical events or famous people.) thing fi rst that breaks it down into detail,” he said. “There’s a lot of moving parts that defi - nitely have to be looked at,” he said.. 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