Ol' Ricky's Washington Football Tales - 1937 + 3 QB's?

Ol’ Ricky doesn’t remember Washington’s 1937 championship, but he finally saw the trophy in 1996 when it was found by the team’s PR director in a storage room.

That’s right, unlike those three shiny Lombardi Trophies in the team’s practice facility lobby, the 1937 trophy was nearly sent to the dump. When the team left RFK Stadium after the 1996 season, owner Jack Kent Cooke asked Mike McCall to supervise the team’s equipment removal.

McCall thought he saw a trophy a few years earlier in a storage room. Sure enough, amid old equipment was the trophy. McCall wasn’t sure what it was, but the Pro Football Hall of Fame verified it was the real 1937 trophy. It’s the only one remaining from the 1930s.

The trophy isn’t like the current metallic football. The Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy is a tall silver cup with a small player attached. Thorp was a league referee who died in 1934. The league trophy was given to the league champion annually from 1934-69 before disappearing. Teams also received a copy.

The team moved to Washington from Boston in 1937 and won the crown with rookie quarterback Sammy Baugh by beating Chicago 28-21. Washington beat the Bears again 14-6 for the 1942 title. We won’t talk about the 1940 title game where Chicago beat Washington 73-0. Washington also lost the 1943 and ’45 championships.

The 1942 trophy remains missing. The 1937 trophy disappeared after owner George Preston Marshall’s death until found in 1996. Just think, it could have been in landfill if not for the sharp eye of McCall.

Tomorrow: Ol’ Ricky remembers the ill-fated play designed by President Nixon. 

Rick Snider is an award-winning sports writer who has covered Washington sports since 1978. He first wrote about the Washington football team in 1983 before becoming a beat writer in 1993. Snider currently writes for several national and international publications and is a Washington tour guide. Follow Rick on Twitter at @Snide_Remarks.