Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy

The Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy was the trophy awarded to the Champions of the National Football League from 1934 until 1969. The trophy was named after Ed Thorp, a noted referee, rules expert, sporting goods dealer and friend to many of the early NFL owners. Thorp died in 1934, and a large, traveling trophy was made later that year. It was to be passed along from champion to champion each season with each championship team's name inscribed on it. Unlike the modern day Lombardi trophies, the Ed Thorpe Memorial Trophy did not become the possession of the winning team, but instead spent a year with the winning team before being passed on to the next year’s champion, much like the Grey Cup in the Canadian Football League or the Stanley Cup in the National Hockey League. In addition to their year with the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy, though, teams were also awarded a smaller replica of the trophy, which they were allowed to keep.

The current location of the trophy is unknown. The prevailing theory is that the Minnesota Vikings, who were the last to win the Trophy in 1969, somehow lost it when the league switched over to the Lombardi Trophy the following year. The Vikings after winning the Thorpe Trophy went on to face the American Football League champion the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFL-NFL World Championship Game (which is more commonly referred to as Super Bowl IV). The spirit of Ed Thorp is also rumoured to have cursed the Vikings, since they lost the trophy that was named in his honor. To date, the team has lost four Super Bowls.

A similar incident occurred to the first trophy that was awarded to the NFL Champions, the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup. In 1920, after the Akron Pros were awarded the league championship, that trophy also went missing (like the Thorp trophy, it too was initially to be passed down to each successive champion). The Washington Redskins replica of the Thorp Trophy is on display at FedExField.

List of Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy winners

 * 1934 New York Giants
 * 1935 Detroit Lions
 * 1936 Green Bay Packers
 * 1937 Washington Redskins
 * 1938 New York Giants
 * 1939 Green Bay Packers
 * 1940 Chicago Bears
 * 1941 Chicago Bears
 * 1942 Washington Redskins
 * 1943 Chicago Bears
 * 1944 Green Bay Packers
 * 1945 Cleveland Rams


 * 1946 Chicago Bears
 * 1947 Chicago Cardinals
 * 1948 Philadelphia Eagles
 * 1949 Philadelphia Eagles
 * 1950 Cleveland Browns
 * 1951 Los Angeles Rams
 * 1952 Detroit Lions
 * 1953 Detroit Lions
 * 1954 Cleveland Browns
 * 1955 Cleveland Browns
 * 1956 New York Giants
 * 1957 Detroit Lions


 * 1958 Baltimore Colts
 * 1959 Baltimore Colts
 * 1960 Philadelphia Eagles
 * 1961 Green Bay Packers
 * 1962 Green Bay Packers
 * 1963 Chicago Bears
 * 1964 Cleveland Browns
 * 1965 Green Bay Packers
 * 1966 Green Bay Packers
 * 1967 Green Bay Packers
 * 1968 Baltimore Colts
 * 1969 Minnesota Vikings