Joseph S. Torg, sports medicine pioneer whose work made football safer, has died at 88

Joseph S. Torg, 88, of Wayne, a sports medicine pioneer who served as team doctor for multiple Philadelphia teams and advanced athlete safety, died Dec. 15 at his home following a chronic illness.

Dr. Torg was a team physician for the Flyers, Sixers, and Eagles at different times, and treated some of their biggest stars, including Doug Collins and Billy Cunningham. Considered by many a “father of sports medicine,” Dr. Torg was a fixture of Philadelphia newspapers’ sports pages, updating fans on the health of their beloved players.

“He was a great, great doctor,” said Bill Baggett, the Baker League legend who remained close with the doctor after his knee operation in the 1970s.

Born Oct 25, 1934, in Philadelphia, Dr. Torg played football at Central High School before transferring to William Penn Charter School.

He went on to study at Haverford College, where he continued to play football and met his future wife, Barbara Groenendaal, through a blind date. He wed Groenendaal, a University of Pennsylvania varsity athlete, in 1959. During their 63-year marriage, they had three children: Joseph, Elisabeth (Betsy), and Jay.

After graduating Haverford, Dr. Torg turned to Temple to pursue a growing interest in medical care. He interrupted his training for a two-year stint with the Army Medical Corps in Germany, and was honorably discharged with the rank of captain in 1968, the same year he completed his residency.

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Dr. Torg dedicated his career to improving athlete safety, first at Temple, where he co-founded the Temple University Center for Sports Medicine and Science, the first of its kind affiliated with an academic institution, and then at the University of Pennsylvania, where he established one of the first sports medicine fellowships.

“I give tremendous thanks to him for establishing a field,” said Michael Ciccotti, director of sports medicine at Rothman Orthopedic Institute. “He absolutely left his fingerprint on the field of sports medicine.”

Dr. Torg returned to Temple in 2002, where he remained involved in training doctors and advancing research until the end of his life.

He was inducted into the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine Hall of Fame in 2005, among the field’s most prestigious honors.

It was Dr. Torg’s research and advocacy that led high school and college football associations in 1976 to ban “spearing,” the practice of using the top of the helmet to make first contact in a tackle.

The number of high school and college football players who suffered paralysis of all four limbs dropped by nearly 50% the next year and has continued declining ever since.

“He never backed down,” said Ray Moyer, the director of sports medicine at Temple University Hospital.

Dr. Torg popularized a test to evaluate anterior cruciate ligament injuries that he learned from mentor John Lachman at Temple. Today, the Lachman test is considered best practice.

Torg was committed to making sports as safe and inclusive as possible.

In the ‘70s, he testified as an expert witness in a New Jersey case against Little League Baseball that girls were no more likely than boys to get hurt playing baseball.

“Torg felt that all of this was ridiculous,” said Helene Pavlov, the former radiologist-in-chief at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery and a longtime friend and collaborator.

The youth sports league had long banned girls from playing, until the New Jersey judge ordered the league to welcome all children starting in the 1974 season, sparking nationwide change.

Dr. Torg often said that his career was possible due to his wife of 63 years, Barbara.

Their daughter, Betsy Torg, said by email that he would affectionately call her “My Barbie Barb, my gal.”

He was happiest when their family spent time together on Long Beach Island, where the self-taught sailor could be on the water.

“We always knew that if we ever needed support or guidance from him and our mother, we could count on them,” his daughter said. “And we did.”

Along with his wife and three children, Dr. Torg is survived by seven grandchildren.

He was buried Dec. 27 at Arlington Cemetery in Drexel Hill in a private family ceremony.

A public service to commemorate Dr. Torg’s life will be held at the William Penn Charter School, 3000 W. School House Lane, Philadelphia 19144 on Saturday, Jan. 21. Details will follow at https://www.donohuefuneralhome.com/obituaries/joseph-torg-md.

Memorial donations may be made to the Joe Torg Endowed Scholarship Fund at Temple’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine, the Joe Torg OPC Scholarship Fund at William Penn Charter School, or to the John Lachman Orthopedic Research Fund.