Neal Storter

Neal Storter
Florida Gators
Position Center
Class Graduate
Career history
College Florida (1907–1911)
Personal information
Date of birth (1890-10-03)October 3, 1890
Place of birth Everglades City, Florida
Date of death November 1, 1979(1979-11-01) (aged 89)
Place of death Brownsville, Texas
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight 170 lb (77 kg)
Career highlights and awards
  • All-Time Florida Gators football team (1927)

Neal Summers "Bo Gator" Storter (October 3, 1890 – November 1, 1979) was an American football center for the Florida Gators of the University of Florida. He was captain of the undefeated 1911 Florida Gators football team and is one proposed originator of the Florida Gator mascot.[1] Storter rebuked the story himself, though.[2] Storter was picked as the center for an All-Time Florida Gators football team in 1927.[3]

Background

Aerial view of Everglades City, looking from westerly direction and showing Port DuPont and the Barron River

Neal was born on October 3, 1890 in Everglade to George W. Storter, Jr. and Nancy Waterson.[4]

University of Florida

Storter was a member of UF's Alpha Eta chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha.[5]

Bo Gator Club

He was the "Chief Bo Gator" of the quasi-mythical "Bo Gator Club," started in 1907 at UF.[6][7] Storter was at the University of Florida when students from the E section of Buckman Hall each chipped in a dime to purchase gunpowder; and with crushed rocks as ammunition, hauled two loaded cannons into place to fire upon a traveling carnival set across from the campus.[8] The club seemed to involve telling tales about such events.[8]

College football

Storter was also a prominent member of the university's football team, captain of its 1911 team. One of the school's best ever centers, Storter was selected for a position on its All-Time team in 1927.[3] The 1911 team tied the South Carolina Gamecocks, defeated The Citadel Bulldogs, Clemson[9] and the College of Charleston, declared themselves to be the "champions of South Carolina,"[10] and finished their season 5–0–1—still the only undefeated football season in the Gators' history. The team was also the first to use the nickname "Gators." He is as such one reason given for the nickname. A former player Roy Corbett sent a letter to The Gainesville Sun congratulating the 1928 team and mentioned the nickname coming from Storter.[11] Carl Van Ness's research also posits Storter as the name's origin.[8] Storter himself denied the above and stated the nickname 'Gators' came when a Macon Telegraph reporter declared "Macon to be invaded by a bunch of alligators from Florida" before the game with Mercer in 1910.[11][12]

Steamships

He was once manager of Lykes Brothers Steamship Company of Galveston, Texas,[3][13][14] and was connected with the company for years as captain or port superintendent.[15][16][17] Storter died on November 1, 1979 in Brownsville of congestive heart failure due to longstanding heart disease.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Neal Storter".
  2. ↑ "Florida Gators History".
  3. 1 2 3 "Writer Picks All-Time Gator Eleven, Going Back 10 Years To Name Taylor And Storter". The Evening Independent. October 14, 1927. p. 5A.
  4. ↑ National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925; Roll #: 1816; Volume #: Roll 1816 - Certificates: 112350-112725, 19 Jan 1922-20 Jan 1922.
  5. ↑ http://www.eventbrite.com/e/pi-kappa-alpha-orange-and-blue-awards-banquet-tickets-10654667397
  6. ↑ "UF Facts and History".
  7. ↑ "100 Moments in Gators History". December 12, 2007.
  8. 1 2 3 Carl Van Ness (2006). "The Cannon Incident of 1909". Florida: news for alumni and friends of the university of florida: 7.
  9. ↑ "Alumni News". The Florida Alligator. November 12, 1922. p. 2.
  10. ↑ MIKE McCALL, Alligator Staff Writer (4 September 2009). "Worth Repeating: Gators hope to reprise title run". The Independent Florida Alligator.
  11. 1 2 Pat Dooley. "33. How the Gators Got Their Name". 100 Things Florida Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die: 33.
  12. ↑ Olivia Ormos (February 1, 2006). "Good Ol' Boys".
  13. ↑ "Alumni News". The Florida Alligator. November 12, 1922. p. 2.
  14. ↑ "Lykes Club Elects Capt. Neal Storter". The Galveston Daily News. May 15, 1949. p. 7. Retrieved January 28, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=b4JBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA64
  16. ↑ "Propeller Club To Hear Head of Galveston Unit". The Brownsville Herald. January 20, 1949. p. 12. Retrieved January 28, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ http://www.portarchive.com/1966/02-February%20Page%201%20to%2020.pdf
  18. ↑ Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982 [database on-line]
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