Spotlight on Carl Storck: Co-Founder of the NFL

Courtesy of Misti Spillman, Manager, Preservation and Community Outreach Woodland Cemetery & Arboretum. Living here in Warren County, we are fortunate to be between the two larger cities of Dayton and Cincinnati. This allows us to not only share in both of these city's accomplishments, but in their residents. And, believe it or not, one way of learning about these people can often be found in historical cemeteries. Dayton, Ohio's Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum, which is one of the oldest garden cemeteries in the United States, is filled with history. And, this October the WarrenCountyPost.com has been given the privilege to publish a piece from Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum about Carl Storck: Co-founder of the NFL

Did you know that the first ever NFL game happened here in Dayton?

Our story begins just next door to Woodland at St. Mary's College (today, the University of Dayton). Carl Storck played football while attending school at St. Mary's, and was known for his talent on the field.

After graduation, he began working for NCR, but did not want to give up the game. He and other St. Mary's players came together to form a new team they called the Dayton Cadets. Storck became team manager in 1918 and led the team in an undefeated season.

(Contriubted Photo) The Dayton Triangles were so named due to the 3 major downtown factories (and team sponsors): Delco, Delco Light, & Dayton Metal Products.

When Delco and Dayton Metal decided to create a recreational team for their employees, Storck and the Cadets joined forces with them. Players from the factories were chosen to complete the team roster, and the new team was christened the Triangles. When a wedge-shaped piece of land was purchased for playing space, the name stuck, and it became Triangle Park.

In late summer of 1920, representatives from the Dayton Triangles, Canton Bulldogs, Massillon Tigers, Akron Pros, Rock Island Independents, and many more football teams met to "raise the standard of professional football in every way possible."

Carl Storck was one of the first men in America to imagine the possibilities of a professional football league. He was indispensable to the early formation of the NFL and would devote more than twenty years to the league, working to make a dream into reality.

Carl's long years of work may have contributed to what his doctors called "neurasthenia". The disorder caused him difficulties with movement, even times of paralysis. Doctors today might say Carl suffered from a problem with his autonomic nervous system.

(Photo courtesy of Woodland Historiic Cemetery & Arboretum) Dayton Triangles team photo, 1920. Carl Storck is circled in red.

In 1921, Storck was appointed secretary-treasurer of the NFL, a position he held until 1939. When league president Joe Carr died, Carl Storck took up the job.

Storck's presidency would be short lived; in 1941 Carl resigned, citing health concerns. He died in 1950.  He is buried in section 120, lot 146 at Woodland Cemetery where his wife is buried beside him.

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