Sal Somma, a onetime high school dropout and teenage runaway, kicked the extra point that gave NYU a 7-6 upset over Vince Lombardi and Fordham’s legendary “Seven Blocks of Granite,” denying the previously undefeated Rams a trip to the 1937 Rose Bowl.
In a coaching career that spanned parts of five decades at Curtis High School, Mt. St. Joseph Academy in Vermont, and New Dorp High School, Somma’s teams won eight New York City championships and a Vermont state title. His vision led to the creation of the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame; at the inaugural induction ceremony in 1995, two years after Somma’s death, his was the first name called.
Did You Know?
Sal Somma is best known for his time at New Dorp High School, where his teams won six city championships. But before serving in the Navy during World War Two, he was the coach at Curtis for four years, guiding the Warriors to back-to-back undefeated seasons in 1939 and 1940.
