One of the truly great Georgia icons has passed away, as Charley Trippi died peacefully in his Athens home on Wednesday at the age of 100.
Trippi was both a college football and NFL Hall of Famer, doing it all for the Bulldogs during his time in Athens. He was named the most outstanding player in the 1943 Rose Bowl, which Georgia won 9-0 and gave the school one of its three claimed national championships.
As a senior in 1946, Trippi was a unanimous All-American and led the Bulldogs to an 11-0 record. He finished second in Heisman Trophy voting that season while leading the SEC in scoring and taking home the Maxwell Award.
Trippi served in the United States Air Force from 1943 through 1945. Trippi enjoyed a nine-year career with the Chicago Cardinals, who selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1945 draft. He was named to the NFL’s 1940′s All-Decade team and was a member of the 1947 championship team.
Trippi was also an accomplished baseball player, earning All-American honors in that sport as well as later working as an assistant coach for Georgia and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Last year, Georgia coach Kirby Smart surprised Trippi as he celebrated his 100th birthday on Dec. 14.
“I was really overwhelmed,” Smart said in a statement put out by the school at the time. “He was perhaps the greatest all-around football player on our campus. Many historians and observers have said that. And from reading about him, I understand why. He is proud to be a Bulldog. His legacy, like that of so many of the great players who have come through here, has enabled us to develop one of the great traditions in college football.”
Funeral services are still to be determined.
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