Herbert Sturhahn
{{Short description|American football player (1902–1979)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox college football player
| name = Herbert Sturhahn
| image = Herbert Sturhahn.jpg
| image_size = 165px
| caption = Sturhahn in 1935
| position = Guard
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1902|07|29}}
| birth_place = Far Rockaway, Queens, New York, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1979|01|10|1902|07|29}}
| death_place = Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 1
| weight_lb = 202
| highschool = Taft (New York City)
New York Military Academy
| pastschools = Yale (1924–1926)
| major =
| bowlgames =
| highlights =
- 2× First-team All-American (1925, 1926)
- First-team All-Eastern (1925)
| CFBHOF_id = 1453
| CFBHOF_year = 1981
}}
Herbert Carl Sturhahn{{cite web |url=https://www.fold3.com/image/674667671 |title=Draft Registration Card |date=February 1942 |publisher=Selective Service System |via=fold3.com |url-access=subscription |accessdate=August 21, 2023}} (July 29, 1902 – January 10, 1979), nicknamed "Cobbles", was an American gridiron football player. He was a first-team All-American guard at Yale University in 1925 and 1926, and was posthumously inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Early years
Sturhahn was born in 1902 at Far Rockaway, Queens, New York City. He was the son of Carl F. Sturhahn (1871–1939), an immigrant from Germany and president of the Rossia Insurance Company.{{cite news|title=C.F. Sturhahn Dies, Leader In Insurance|newspaper=The Hartford Courant|date=December 13, 1939|page=4|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-cf-sturhahn-dies-lea/130407478/|via=Newspapers.com}} The younger Sturhahn grew up on Long Island and attended William Howard Taft High School and the New York Military Academy.
Yale
Sturhahn enrolled at Yale University, where he played college football at the guard position for the Yale Bulldogs football teams. As a sophomore, he helped lead the 1924 Yale football team to an undefeated 6–0–2 season. As a junior and again as a senior, he was selected by the All-America Board as a first-team guard on their 1925 and 1926 All-America teams.{{cite news |author1=Tad Jones |author2=Knute Rockne |author3=Glenn Warner |title=All-American Stars Are Named |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/spokane-chronicle-all-american-stars-are/131596442/ |newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle |page=11 |date=December 5, 1925 |accessdate=September 10, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}{{cite news|title=Warner, Rockne and Jones Choose All-American Team|newspaper=The Courier Journal|date=December 19, 1926|page=77|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6919163/warner_rockne_and_jones_choose/|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} The Associated Press named him a first-team selection to their 1925 All-America team,{{cite news|title=Associated Press Announces All-American Teams|newspaper=Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune|date=December 14, 1925}} as well as their 1925 All-Eastern team.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/dayton-daily-news-dartmouth-carries-off/131595993/ |title=Dartmouth Carries Off Bulk Of Positions On A. P. All-Eastern Team |agency=AP |newspaper=Dayton Daily News |page=D-6 |date=December 5, 1925 |accessdate=September 10, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}
During the 1926 Harvard–Yale football rivalry game, his final game for the Bulldogs, Sturhahn recovered a blocked punt for a Yale touchdown, the winning margin in a 12–7 victory.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-78000-see-wadsworth-kick-cli/130441252/ |title=78,000 See Wadsworth Kick Clinch 12-7 Victory |first=Will |last=Murphy |newspaper=Daily News |location=New York City |page=42 |date=November 21, 1926 |accessdate=August 22, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} One sportswriter credited Sturhahn with being "half of Eli's team" and described his contributions:
But lest we . . . overlook the hero of the game on the field, let us pause a moment to salute one "Cobbles" Sturhahn. . . . A guard, no matter how loyally and brilliantly he may labor, is compelled by the nature of his job to wage his mimic warfare under a pile of rival jerseys, hidden from the crowd. And the courageous work he did was lost upon the thoughtless. But Saturday "Cobbles" was at least three Sturhahns of the yesteryears.
He made Yale's touchdown. It would have been a safety but for his quick eye and impetuous dive to grasp his golden opportunity. And having put his team in the lead, it was he who held it there. . . . He was everywhere, playing a roving guard. He ducked the pile of rival jerseys and shone in the brightest rays of light that pierced the black clouds overhead and filled the Bowl with a blue ray of burning will to win. Yale owes that game to Sturhahn and the more one examines and analyses the play-by-play account, the taller looms Sturhahn's part in the famous victory.{{cite news|title=Yale and Harvard Show 'Promise of Brighter Things in 1927'|newspaper=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|first=George|last=Currie|date=November 22, 1926|page=2A|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-yale-and-harvar/130405824/}}
Sturhahn was an all-around athlete who also competed for Yale in ice hockey, track, and golf.
Post-Yale
In June 1927, Sturhahn married Etienne Lawrence, a foster daughter of journalist David Lawrence.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-express-news-in-brief/130424877/ |title=News In Brief |agency=AP |newspaper=Evening Express |location=Evening Express (Portland, Maine) |page=8 |date=June 25, 1927 |accessdate=August 21, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} A son,{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-society-column/130440040/ |title=Society (column) |newspaper=Hartford Courant |location=Hartford, Connecticut |page=9 |date=May 1, 1928 |accessdate=August 22, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} Lawrence (1928–1997),{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-star-society-column/130439535/ |title=Society (column) |newspaper=Evening Star |location=Washington, D.C. |page=3-2 |date=April 12, 1931 |accessdate=August 22, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}{{cite web |url=https://www.fold3.com/record/627414985/lawrence-sturhahn-1928-veterans-affairs-birls-death-file |title=Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File |publisher=United States Department of Veterans Affairs |website=fold3.com |url-access=subscription |accessdate=August 22, 2023}} had a career working on motion pictures, serving as producer of the 1971 George Lucas movie THX 1138.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-thx-1138-advert/130440423/ |title=THX 1138 (advert) |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |page=2-11 |date=May 14, 1971 |accessdate=August 22, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0836375/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 |title=Larry Sturhahn(1928-1997) |website=IMDb |accessdate=August 22, 2023}}
Sturhahn became an insurance broker in New Jersey. In the late 1930s, he served as president of the Indoor Polo Association of America.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-call-polo-association-re-ele/130439388/ |title=Polo Association Re-Elects Officers |agency=AP |newspaper=The Morning Call |location=Allentown, Pennsylvania |page=18 |date=November 22, 1939 |accessdate=August 22, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} Sturhahn died in 1979 and was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981.{{cite web |url=https://footballfoundation.org/hof_search.aspx?hof=1453 |title=Herbert Sturhahn (1981) |website=footballfoundation.org |accessdate=August 21, 2023}}
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturhahn, Herbert}}
Category:People from Far Rockaway, Queens
Category:Players of American football from New York City
Category:American football guards
Category:Yale Bulldogs football players
Category:Yale Bulldogs men's ice hockey players