Thomas Richard Sterck (June 20, 1900 – September 1970) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player. Sterck was born in 1900 and attended Peabody High School in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. He was a star athlete at Peabody, participating in football and track. He set the school record in the discus. At age 18, and with

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

underway, Sterck joined the students' army and was assigned to

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...

. At Washington & Jefferson, he played at the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

position, and was also tried as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

, on the 1918 Washington & Jefferson Red and Black football team. At the end of the 1918 season, he was selected by

Tiny Maxwell Robert Wallace "Tiny" Maxwell (September 7, 1884 – June 30, 1922) was a professional football player and referee. He was also a sports editor with the ''Philadelphia Public Ledger''. Biography Early life Maxwell was born in Chicago on Septe ...

as a first-team center on his

1918 College Football All-America Team The 1918 College Football All-America team consists of American football players selected to the College Football All-America Teams selected by various organizations for the 1918 college football season. All-Americans of 1918 Ends *Paul Robeson, ...

. Sterck missed the 1919 football season with a broken leg. He returned to the football team in 1920 and also played on the Washington & Jefferson basketball team. Sterck later worked in the advertising business.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sterck, Thomas 1900 births 1970 deaths Washington & Jefferson Presidents football players American football centers Players of American football from Pittsburgh