I don’t havemuch to add to these quotes from former Flyers enforcer Todd Fedoruk, via TSN, about his own history of substance abuse and how Philadelphia Police allegedly help players “take care” of players using drugs and alcohol dangerously. But I think it’s worth sharing on the blog here, because it’s relevant to this team and this city and it’s unusually candid:
I want to help others. That’s the main purpose. I’m sick of hearing of guys dying. Ultimately that’s what’s happening. Guys, swallow your pride, humble yourself, and go ask for help because it’s there.
…
Like getting pulled over by the cops. You’re drunk, but they’re like, ‘You’re drunk, but get home, take care of yourself.’ For me it happened a few times. Driving around and you had a few drinks, and the cop could tell but he was a season ticket holder. So he’d follow you home. I guess it’s a good thing but it enables bad things down the road. I’m not saying it happened every night.
It depends on where you are. In Philly, there’s a history of (police) taking care of us.
I don’t think anybody doubts that this happens. We’d all be naive to think drug use — be it alcohol or something much more dangerous — isn’t heavy in the NHL, or in any professional sport, and we’d be naive to think that the police don’t look after these athletes in some way. In fact, when TSN reached out to a PPD spokesman to ask about this, all he said was that the department doesn’t condone that type of activity and if they knew it happened then they would discipline any officer involved. Not a denial.
This trend of former NHL players speaking out publicly about substance abuse and drug use has become a trend. This Fedoruk story on TSN went online in tandem with a report from Rick Westhead that details how cocaine use is on the rise in the NHL. Last week, Leafs blog Pension Plan Puppets translated a story from Swedish media in which prospect Viktor Loov talked about the NHL’s cocaine problem.
* * *
Correction: we originally used the word “cover up” to describe the police actions Fedoruk was describing. After review, that was probably a little too harsh, so we’ve corrected it to use Fedoruk’s own characterization — that PPD “takes care” of players using drugs and alcohol.
