Brunswick-Balke-Collender Cup
On the 17th of September 1920, league managers gathered to discuss a silver loving cup. A man known only as Mr. Marshall donated this trophy to the American Professional Football Association. The meeting minutes recorded that the cup would go to any team awarded championship by the Association. This wording established a precedent for awarding titles through manager votes rather than final standings. The motion to include the cup passed with a vote of thanks extended to Mr. Marshall. Any team winning the cup three times would be adjudged the owner of the trophy.
The Akron Pros received the 1920 APFA Championship on the 30th of April 1921 during an association meeting at the Portage Hotel. Team owners Art Ranney and Frank Nied accepted the trophy from former Penn State star Timmy Bryant. Disputes arose immediately from the Buffalo All-Americans and the Decatur Staleys who had been tied but not beaten by the Pros that year. Allegations surfaced that Ranney held a self-dealing conflict of interest while presiding over the decision. He was presiding because President Jim Thorpe and Vice President Stan Cofall were absent. The league lost track of the event and published record books stating the 1920 championship remained undecided for decades.
What happened to the cup afterwards remains a mystery within NFL history. The minutes of APFA and NFL meetings never mention it again after 1921. Aside from its description as a silver loving cup, the Brunswick-Balke-Collender trophy remains a mysterious object. The only known visual depiction is a picture that appeared in two newspapers from the era. Neither the All-Americans nor the Staleys inquired about the trophy's whereabouts the next year. It took until the 1970s for the NFL to rediscover its early vote on awarding the Akron Pros the 1920 championship.
Starting with the 1934 Championship game, a replacement trophy finally arrived thirteen years after the original was awarded. The league commissioned the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy named after a noted referee and rules expert who died in 1934. A large traveling trophy was made that year passed along from champion to champion each season. Each championship team received their name inscribed upon it just like its predecessor. Teams also received a replica trophy that would not have only the name of that team engraved on it. The trophy was long thought to have been awarded last to the Minnesota Vikings in 1969.
Afterwards the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy went missing just like its predecessor nearly fifty years earlier. The original Ed Thorp trophy was eventually found in the possession of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. It includes the team names of all winners through the 1967 Packers who won Super Bowl II. This raised doubts as to whether the Vikings or the Baltimore Colts had ever won the trophy. The Vikings did win a trophy for their 1969 championship but surviving evidence released in 2020 suggests it was yet another trophy. The Baltimore Colts had won the NFL title in 1968 before the mystery deepened.
Since 1970, the league has issued the Vince Lombardi Trophy to the winners of the league's title. Unlike its two predecessors, a new one is produced each year. The Lombardi Trophy dates to 1967 and the first Super Bowl. It was retained when the NFL and the American Football League merged. This shift marked a permanent change from traveling awards to annual production for Super Bowl winners. The history of these trophies reflects the evolution of professional football governance over five decades.
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Common questions
Who donated the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Cup to the American Professional Football Association?
A man known only as Mr. Marshall donated this trophy to the American Professional Football Association on the 17th of September 1920.
When did the Akron Pros receive the 1920 APFA Championship trophy?
The Akron Pros received the 1920 APFA Championship on the 30th of April 1921 during an association meeting at the Portage Hotel.
What happened to the original Brunswick-Balke-Collender Cup after 1921?
The minutes of APFA and NFL meetings never mention it again after 1921, making its whereabouts a mystery within NFL history until the 1970s rediscovery of early voting records.
Which team won the last Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy before it went missing in 1969?
The Minnesota Vikings were long thought to have been awarded the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy for their 1969 championship before evidence suggested they received yet another trophy.
Who replaced the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy starting with the 1934 Championship game?
A replacement trophy named the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy arrived thirteen years after the original was awarded, commissioned by the league in honor of a noted referee who died in 1934.