Where’s My Thorp?
I just noticed that this tale of a certain missing trophy was discussed on the message board about a year ago. I guess this is a re-visit.
The NFL had a championship trophy before the Lombardi Trophy. That’s really no surprise as there were 46 league champions before the AFL and NFL got together. Actually, there were two trophies. From 1920-33, there was no championship game. The NFL champion was the team with the best regular season record. The champion wasn’t officially crowned until a vote by the league owners. That was mostly a formality. Controversy clouded a couple of the champions. That often happens when it comes to votes and sports. The NFL champion during this early era of the league was “sometimes” awarded the Brunswick-Blake Collender Cup. That’s a whole other story. This story is about the league’s next trophy. In 1934, the NFL had the brilliant idea of playing a championship game. They needed a trophy for the winner of the new “big” game. That trophy was the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy. Like hockey’s Stanley Cup, it was a traveling trophy. Each league champion kept the trophy for a year. Great. At least it would’ve been great if the Green Bay Packers weren’t involved. The entitled team from Wisconsin won the Thorp more than any other team. They won it in 1936, 1938, 1944, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, and 1967. That’s too damn many times. It was so many times that the Packers would come to assume rights to the Thorp that they simply didn’t and don’t have.
The trouble with the Thorp started in the 1960s. The Lombardi Packers should be to blame. Instead, history would put the blame on the Minnesota Vikings. The Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy disappeared about the time of the full merger of the NFL and AFL in 1970. With that merger there was no longer a need for the Thorp. The Vikings were the last NFL champion before the full merger so they were the last team to hold the Thorp. Since the trophy had disappeared, the Vikings must have lost it. That was the story and it held. Despite an incredible lack of evidence, the story held for so long that it became fact. The Vikings lost the Thorp and as a result they were cursed. This Thorp curse is the reason for Super Bowl losses, big game frustrations, close calls, missed field goals, and an empty trophy case. The curse of the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy.
In 2019, Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Mark Craig wrote about the Ed Thorp Trophy in advance of the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Vikings’ 1969 NFL Championship. He asked a few of the members of that team about the trophy. Here are some of the responses.
“Ed who?” - Gary Larsen
”I ain’t never seen it.” - Lonnie Warwick
”I don’t even know what you’re referring to.” - Bud Grant
There’s a simple reason for those responses. The Vikings didn’t know anything about the trophy because they’d never seen it.
In 2018, the Packers discovered that the team had the trophy all along. Not only did they have it in some forgotten closet or box, they had it in three pieces. Packers historian Cliff Christl wrote about how wonderful it was to have the trophy again. The Thorp had been put back together and is sitting in the team’s museum. Christl is out of his mind if he thinks the Packers should keep the trophy. This was meant to be a traveling trophy but it didn’t do much traveling in the 1960s. Their five titles that decade granted the Packers five years with the Thorp. It didn’t grant them an eternity with it. Actually, it wasn’t in Green Bay for the entirety of the 1960s. There’s evidence that the Chicago Bears received the trophy from the Packers in 1963 and that the Cleveland Browns received the trophy from the Bears in 1964. The Packers got it back in 1965. After winning again in 1966 and again in 1967, it seems that the Packers decided amongst themselves that the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy had a permanent home. If they thought it was so great that they ignored their obligation to pass it to the next league champion, why did they treat the trophy so horribly? It’s that entitlement thing. The Colts never saw the Thorp in 1968. The Vikings never saw it in 1969. It was lost in Green Bay. Literally.
Christl claims that Green Bay is and should be the Thorp’s home because the Packers won it eight times. That’s ridiculous. The Vikings won it but never possessed it. The Vikings were the last team to win it and should have it for that reason alone. The trophy was meant to go to the next NFL champion and there wouldn’t be a next one. It’s annoying that the Packers believe that they are entitled to the Thorp because they won it eight times. It’s even more annoying that they believe that they are entitled to it after treating it with such disrespect for nearly 50 years. That’s reason enough to not have the trophy now.
In all honesty, I believe that the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. On its way to Canton, it should spend a year at the Minnesota Vikings Museum in Eagan. One of the many places it shouldn’t be is in Green Bay.
The NFL had a championship trophy before the Lombardi Trophy. That’s really no surprise as there were 46 league champions before the AFL and NFL got together. Actually, there were two trophies. From 1920-33, there was no championship game. The NFL champion was the team with the best regular season record. The champion wasn’t officially crowned until a vote by the league owners. That was mostly a formality. Controversy clouded a couple of the champions. That often happens when it comes to votes and sports. The NFL champion during this early era of the league was “sometimes” awarded the Brunswick-Blake Collender Cup. That’s a whole other story. This story is about the league’s next trophy. In 1934, the NFL had the brilliant idea of playing a championship game. They needed a trophy for the winner of the new “big” game. That trophy was the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy. Like hockey’s Stanley Cup, it was a traveling trophy. Each league champion kept the trophy for a year. Great. At least it would’ve been great if the Green Bay Packers weren’t involved. The entitled team from Wisconsin won the Thorp more than any other team. They won it in 1936, 1938, 1944, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, and 1967. That’s too damn many times. It was so many times that the Packers would come to assume rights to the Thorp that they simply didn’t and don’t have.
The trouble with the Thorp started in the 1960s. The Lombardi Packers should be to blame. Instead, history would put the blame on the Minnesota Vikings. The Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy disappeared about the time of the full merger of the NFL and AFL in 1970. With that merger there was no longer a need for the Thorp. The Vikings were the last NFL champion before the full merger so they were the last team to hold the Thorp. Since the trophy had disappeared, the Vikings must have lost it. That was the story and it held. Despite an incredible lack of evidence, the story held for so long that it became fact. The Vikings lost the Thorp and as a result they were cursed. This Thorp curse is the reason for Super Bowl losses, big game frustrations, close calls, missed field goals, and an empty trophy case. The curse of the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy.
In 2019, Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Mark Craig wrote about the Ed Thorp Trophy in advance of the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Vikings’ 1969 NFL Championship. He asked a few of the members of that team about the trophy. Here are some of the responses.
“Ed who?” - Gary Larsen
”I ain’t never seen it.” - Lonnie Warwick
”I don’t even know what you’re referring to.” - Bud Grant
There’s a simple reason for those responses. The Vikings didn’t know anything about the trophy because they’d never seen it.
In 2018, the Packers discovered that the team had the trophy all along. Not only did they have it in some forgotten closet or box, they had it in three pieces. Packers historian Cliff Christl wrote about how wonderful it was to have the trophy again. The Thorp had been put back together and is sitting in the team’s museum. Christl is out of his mind if he thinks the Packers should keep the trophy. This was meant to be a traveling trophy but it didn’t do much traveling in the 1960s. Their five titles that decade granted the Packers five years with the Thorp. It didn’t grant them an eternity with it. Actually, it wasn’t in Green Bay for the entirety of the 1960s. There’s evidence that the Chicago Bears received the trophy from the Packers in 1963 and that the Cleveland Browns received the trophy from the Bears in 1964. The Packers got it back in 1965. After winning again in 1966 and again in 1967, it seems that the Packers decided amongst themselves that the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy had a permanent home. If they thought it was so great that they ignored their obligation to pass it to the next league champion, why did they treat the trophy so horribly? It’s that entitlement thing. The Colts never saw the Thorp in 1968. The Vikings never saw it in 1969. It was lost in Green Bay. Literally.
Christl claims that Green Bay is and should be the Thorp’s home because the Packers won it eight times. That’s ridiculous. The Vikings won it but never possessed it. The Vikings were the last team to win it and should have it for that reason alone. The trophy was meant to go to the next NFL champion and there wouldn’t be a next one. It’s annoying that the Packers believe that they are entitled to the Thorp because they won it eight times. It’s even more annoying that they believe that they are entitled to it after treating it with such disrespect for nearly 50 years. That’s reason enough to not have the trophy now.
In all honesty, I believe that the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. On its way to Canton, it should spend a year at the Minnesota Vikings Museum in Eagan. One of the many places it shouldn’t be is in Green Bay.
