Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy

The Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy was the trophy awarded to the champions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1934 through 1967. 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, 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, was eventually 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, likely confusing the name with that of NFL legend Jim Thorpe.^[6]

Disappearance[]

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). It was widely thought that the Vikings accidentally left the trophy behind at a gas station on their way to what is now known 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).^[7][8] The Washington Football Team replica of the Thorp Trophy is on display at FedExField.^[5]

Rediscovery[]

In 2015, the Thorp Trophy was found to have been in the possession of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Inc.^[6] instead of with the Vikings. Initially, the Packers and the NFL didn't know how got there and it was proposed that the owner of the gas station that the Vikings lost the trophy may have sent it to the Packers after finding it. 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.^[6]

In 2018, a Green Bay Press-Gazette photo was donated from a fan, and a trophy base from 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 confirmed to be the traveling Ed Thorp Trophy.^[6]

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 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. It had previously been assumed that the 1968 and 1969 champions, the Baltimore Colts and Minnesota Vikings (both of whom had lost their respective Super Bowls), had been awarded the trophy, but no engravings are present honoring either one (though that could be because there was no room left to engrave them), no photographic or news evidence exists of either team possessing it, and the continued possession of the trophy by a Packers-related entity would imply that neither team saw the trophy.^[6]

In August 2020, an independent online reality show called "Skol Searching" revealed The Minnesota Vikings 1969 Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy. The trophy seems to be a replica as it includes the 1960, 1968 and 1969 winners in its engravings, but its also the first created specifically for the Vikings & 1969. After a handful of corresponding emails between August–September 2020, for reasons unknown, the Vikings have turned down the donation of the replica. They stated they have no plans at this time to accept nor create their own replica. This may come as a surprise to many since the franchises museum currently has no trophies on display. The 1969 Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy was the only championship trophy earned by the franchise since their creation in 1961. The trophy’s indefinite home is now in Maple Grove, Minnesota. It’s displayed on game day by a VWO [Army Division] run club called ‘Skol Bar’ inside of Maple Tavern. The club plans on aiding in finding it a permanent home.^[9]

List of Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy winners[]

Total trophies won[]

Non-winners (5): Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints

See also[]

• Vince Lombardi Trophy
• Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup
• List of National Football League awards

References[]