The football world is remembering Charley Trippi, the Georgia Bulldog legend who passed away Wednesday at his home in Athens two months shy of his 101st birthday. Trippi was an All-American with the Bulldogs in the 1940s who went on to a professional career with the NFL’s Chicago Cardinals. He was, at the time of his death, the oldest living member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
From WSB TV…
A legendary former University of Georgia football player has died at age 100.
Charley Trippi is still remembered by many as one of the best athletes to ever play for UGA.
UGA Senior Associate Athletic Director Claude Felton said Trippi died peacefully at home Wednesday in Athens.
Trippi was one of football’s most versatile players, lining up at multiple positions on offense, defense and special teams. He is the only member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to have 1,000 yards rushing, receiving and passing in his career.
“In those days, the more things a player did, the more pay he could demand,” Trippi said, according to his bio at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “I could run, kick, pass and catch, and that made me a valuable property.”
He was a unanimous All-America selection in 1946 after leading Georgia to a perfect 11-0 record and an SEC championship victory. The same year, he was the runner up for the Heisman trophy and won the Maxwell Award, which is given to the most valuable player in the country.
At the same time he starred as a running back on the football team, he was also a sought-after baseball player. In 1947, he played one season of minor league baseball before he joined the NFL.
Trippi went on to play with the Chicago Cardinals and led them to a world championship in his rookie season. He played on the team for nine seasons.
Trippi was inducted into the national College Football Hall of Fame in 1959, the national Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame and the State of Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1965.
“If you know anything about his legend at Georgia, you know he was, perhaps, the greatest all-around football player on our campus,” said Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs’ current coach. “Many historians and observers have said that and from reading about him, I understand why.”
On Dec. 14, 2021, Trippi celebrated perhaps the crowning achievement of a remarkable life.
He turned 100 years old, becoming just the second member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to reach the century mark. Clarence “Ace” Parker died on Nov. 6, 2013, at the age of 101.
He went on to star in the “Dream Backfield” for the Chicago Cardinals, leading the franchise to what remains its most recent NFL championship in 1947.
Trippi is one of only four players to ever have his jersey retired.
After his career on the field ended, Trippi served as an assistant coach for the Cardinals from 1957 to 1965 and then went into private business.