Template:Infobox sports award The Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy was the trophy awarded to the champions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1934 through 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 June 1934,[1][2] and a large, traveling trophy was made later that year.[3] 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 Thorp 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.[4] For a brief period in the 1930s, teams winning the league championship were awarded a smaller replica of the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy, which they were allowed to keep, in addition to the year spent with the larger traveling trophy.[5]
In 2015, it was found the trophy was in possession of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Inc., along with two other copies of it. How the trophy came to be in the possession of the Hall of Fame, rather than the team itself is unknown remained a mystery, until solved in June, 2018, by Packers historian Cliff Christl.[6]
Some of the trophies, such as the two replicas the Green Bay Packers won in 1936 and 1939, have Thorp misspelled as Thorpe, showing that the name Ed Thorp was not a household name at the time.[7]
Lost Trophy[]
The original theory of what happened was that the Minnesota Vikings, who were thought to be the last to win the Trophy in 1969, somehow lost it when the league switched over to the Lombardi Trophy the following year.[5] The Vikings after winning the Thorp 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 was also rumored to have cursed the Vikings, since they lost the trophy that was named in his honor. To date, the team has lost all four Super Bowls, and the last six NFC Championships they have played in.[4]
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).[8][9] The Washington Redskins replica of the Thorp Trophy is on display at FedExField.[5]
True Location[]
In 2015, the Thorp Trophy was found to have been in the possession of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Inc. [10] instead of with the Vikings. After some research by various teams, it was discovered that, contrary to original belief, there had been only six of the individual trophies awarded to teams for their victories, with five of them coming during Joseph Carr's-then president of the league-life, and a sixth not long after his death: Those of the 1934 and 1938 New York Giants, the 1935 Detroit Lions, the 1937 Washington Redskins, and the 1936 and 1939 Green Bay Packers, along with one trophy given out to the 1961 Green Bay Packers that was first not thought to be part of the original pattern, being differently shaped than the ones originally presented.[11]
In 2018, a Green Bay Press-Gazette photo was donated from a fan, and a trophy base the Packers Hall of Fame Inc. was found at the bottom of a cardboard box. With this, it was discovered that: the trophy on display in 2015 was not fully displayed, with there being names of the winners engraved on it from the 1952 Detroit Lions to the 1967 Green Bay Packers-with the exception of the 1960 Philadelphia Eagles-and the one that had been given to the Packers in 1961 was the traveling Ed Thorp Trophy. [12]
There are, however, a few questions that have yet to be answered. The 1960 Philadelphia Eagles are not found engraved anywhere on the trophy, being the only team from 1934 through 1967 to not be engraved, although there is a space left for them. It is also not known why the trophy's engravings ends with the 1967 Green Bay Packers instead of the 1969 Minnesota Vikings. It is still unknown if the Packers kept the trophy after their 1961 season, or if any other teams were presented the trophy in a later season.[13]
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
Total trophies won[]
| Club | Winners | Winning years |
|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers | 8 | 1936, 1939, 1944, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967 |
| Chicago Bears | 5 | 1940, 1941, 1943, 1946, 1963 |
| Cleveland Browns | 4 | 1950, 1954, 1955, 1964 |
| Detroit Lions | 4 | 1935, 1952, 1953, 1957 |
| Baltimore Colts | 3 | 1958, 1959, 1968 |
| New York Giants | 3 | 1934, 1938, 1956 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3 | 1948, 1949, 1960 |
| Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams | 2 | 1945, 1951 |
| Washington Redskins | 2 | 1937, 1942 |
| Chicago Cardinals | 1 | 1947 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 1 | 1969 |
Non-winners (5): Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ "Ed Thorp, football authority, is dead". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press: p. 6. June 23, 1934. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aaRQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3SEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1384%2C6022187.
- ↑ "Ed Thorp, grid arbiter, dies". Berkeley Daily Gazette. United Press (California): p. 10. June 23, 1934. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tyExAAAAIBAJ&sjid=buMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5977%2C4739635.
- ↑ "Thorp memorial trophy for pro football champs". The Day. Associated Press (New London, Connecticut): p. 14. July 2, 1934. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xoMjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cXUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5683%2C77134.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 McCain, Josh. "Minnesota Vikings: The Curse of the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy". Bleacher Report. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/486069-minnesota-vikings-the-curse-of-the-ed-thorp-memorial-trophy.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Inside Redskins Park: The Other Championship Trophy". The Official Redskins Blog (Washington Redskins). 2008. http://redskinsblog.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/inside-redskins-park-the-other-championship-trophy/.
- ↑ https://www.packers.com/news/mystery-of-the-ed-thorp-memorial-trophy-solved
- ↑ https://www.packers.com/news/mystery-of-the-ed-thorp-memorial-trophy-solved
- ↑ Carroll, Bob (1982). "Akron Pros 1920". Coffin Corner (Professional Football Researchers Association) 4 (12): 1–4. Archived from the original on 2012-03-02. https://www.webcitation.org/65r52lUNU?url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/04-12-119.pdf.
- ↑ Peterson, Robert W (1997-01-01). Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football. ISBN 978-0-19-511913-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=rCnbhSRZpgIC&dq=Akron+Pros+football+Brunswick-Balke+Collender.
- ↑ http://www.packers.com/news-and-events/article-cliffs-notes/article-1/Thorp-Trophy-preceded-Super-Bowl-era-Lombardi-Trophy-/9a4f2e39-c38b-4e26-bc9b-3443d573a74f
- ↑ "Archived copy". http://www.packers.com/news-and-events/article-cliffs-notes/article-1/The-mystery-of-the-Ed-Thorp-Memorial-Trophy/69ec5eb4-a138-453f-84db-ec0ee40f1cb0.
- ↑ https://www.packers.com/news/mystery-of-the-ed-thorp-memorial-trophy-solved
- ↑ https://www.packers.com/news/mystery-of-the-ed-thorp-memorial-trophy-solved
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