ATHENS, Ga. — Football Hall of Famer Charley Trippi, who led the University of Georgia to a perfect season in 1946 and took the Chicago Cardinals to an NFL championship the following year, died Wednesday. He was 100.
Trippi died at his home in Athens, Georgia, the University of Georgia said in a statement. His death was also confirmed by his grandson, Clint Watson, The New York Times reported.
Trippi turned 100 on Dec. 14, 2021, becoming only the second member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to reach the century mark, WSB-TV reported. Clarence “Ace” Parker, who died on Nov. 6, 2013, was 101.
A versatile player, Trippi played running back, quarterback and defensive back, The Athletic reported. He also was a punter and a kick returner.
He is the only member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to have 1,000 yards rushing, receiving and passing in his career, according to The Associated Press.
During his nine years with the Cardinals, Trippi ran for 3,506 yards, threw for 2,547 yards and had 1,321 yards in pass receptions, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.
Trippi played at Georgia from 1942 to 1946. He was named the most valuable player of the Rose Bowl in 1943, when the Bulldogs defeated UCLA 9-0, and won the Maxwell Award as the nation’s most outstanding college football player in 1946. That same year, Trippi was runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting behind Army’s Glenn Davis, the Times reported.
He led Georgia to an 11-0 record and a national title in 1946. Named as a unanimous All-American his senior season, Trippi led the Southeastern Conference in scoring and threw a 67-yard touchdown pass in the Bulldogs’ Sugar Bowl victory against North Carolina, the Athens Banner-Herald reported.
Trippi’s No. 62 jersey is one of only four numbers to be retired at Georgia, according to WSB.
“If you know anything about his legend at Georgia, you know he was, perhaps, the greatest all-around football player on our campus,” current Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “Many historians and observers have said that and from reading about him, I understand why.”
He was drafted No. 1 overall by the Chicago Cardinals in the 1945 NFL draft.
Trippi, who wore tennis shoes to navigate the icy turf at Comiskey Park, scored on a 75-yard punt return and a 44-yard run in the Cardinals’ 28-21 win in 1947 NFL championship game win against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Banner-Herald reported. He was also named to the NFL’s all-1940s team.
The Cardinals, who moved to St. Louis in 1960 and then to its current home in Arizona in 1988, has yet to win another NFL title. They appeared in the 2009 Super Bowl, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Trippi was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.