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The Grave of Al Babartsky by Randy Snow Original to www.theworldoffootball.com, Friday, July 14, 2023
On the south side of Dayton, OH you will find the final resting place of a player who was a member of one of college football’s legendary offensive lines, The Seven Blocks of Granite. This is Gridiron Grave visit #52.
The unit gained national attention in 1936 when the school’s publicist, Tim Cohane, began using the Seven Blocks of Granite nickname, and the name stuck. The 1936 team had a 5-0-2 record going into their final game of the season against New York University, but they lost in a 7-6 upset and missed out on a chance to play in the Rose Bowl. The head coach of Fordham at the time was Jim Crowley, one of the legendary members of The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame. His line coach was Frank Leahy, who played under Knute Rockne and would eventually go on to become the head coach at Notre Dame from 1941-1953. Babartsky was selected in the fifth round of the 1938 NFL Draft by the Chicago Cardinals and played in the NFL for six seasons. He played for the Cardinals for three seasons, in 1938, 1939 and 1941. He then played for the cross-town rival Chicago Bears from 1943-1945 and won an NFL title with the Bears in 1943. After his football career was
over, Babartsky settled in Dayton and went to work for a local trailer company.
He also shortened his last name to Bart, apparently because people kept
misspelling it. Al Babartsky died on December 29, 2002 at the age of 87 in Kettering, OH. Bart is how it appears on his grave marker. Of the seven members of the Fordham line, two went on to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (Alex Wojciechowicz and Ed Franco) and another two were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Alex Wojciechowicz and Vince Lombardi). Established in 1970, the Vince Lombardi Award is handed out annually to the top lineman in college football. The trophy is made from a block of granite. Finding his Grave Al Babartsky, or Al Bart, is buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Dayton, OH. The address is 1625 Calvary Drive, Dayton, OH 45409. He is located in Section 29. As you enter the Cemetery through the main entrance you will see a big hill straight ahead and a little to your left. He can be found at the top of the hill. Take the road to the left, then take the first right, which is St. Peter Drive, and go up the hill. Turn right at the top of the hill onto East Chapel Drive and stop about halfway to the chapel. The grave is several rows away from the road, on your right, just before the hill makes a steep drop. There is a small placard on a stick next to his grave that is there to help you find the grave.
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Tackle
Al Babartsky played high school football in Pennsylvania and went on to play
college football at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York from 1935-1937.
The man who played next to him of the offensive line was none other than guard
Vince Lombardi. The front seven was so dominant that they became known as “The
Seven Blocks of Granite.” 