North Haven Football Coach Featured In ESPN Documentary

NORTH HAVEN, CT — North Haven High School Football coach Anthony Sagnella is featured prominently in the ESPN “30 for 30” documentary titled “Year of the Scab.” The film, which debuted last week, delves into the NFL’s use of replacement players during the 1987 players’ strike.

Sagnella recently spoke with Chip Malafronte of the New Haven Register on his decision to participate in the documentary despite some trepidation of digging up “old wounds.” The replacement players were viewed as “scabs” for crossing the picket line and drew the ire of the unionized players and others. (To sign up for North Haven breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

Sagnella was a replacement player for the Washington Redskins in the three games the team played with the non-union players. The games with the replacement players counted in the standings once the strike was over. The Redskins went 3-0 during the strike and went on to win the Super Bowl that year.

Despite winning three key divisional games during the strike, none of the replacement players received Super Bowl rings.

Sagnella, who was a former standout at Hamden High and a three-year starter at Rutgers, had been cut from the New York Jets training camp in July 1987 and had given up on his dream of playing in the NFL until he was contacted by the Redskins with the offer to try out for the replacement squad and decided he couldn’t pass on the opportunity, according the Register.

Read more at the New Haven Register here.

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