After we reviewed ESPN’s major blunder in relegating Georgia legend Herschel Walker to runner up in their 150 Greatest College Football Players poll, I started searching the list for Georgia Heisman Trophy winner Frank Sinkwich and the finest …
After we reviewed ESPN’s major blunder in relegating Georgia legend Herschel Walker to runner up in their 150 Greatest College Football Players poll, I started searching the list for Georgia Heisman Trophy winner Frank Sinkwich and the finest athlete in Bulldog football history, Charles “Charley” Trippi.
As I continued scrolling down the list, expecting to soon see the two football legends, I was quickly losing faith in the ESPN panel of 150 media members, administrators and former coaches….ok, I already had lost faith. How could they fail to include Trippi and Sinkwich, who in 1942, teamed to comprise one of the most dynamic backfields in history?
Even more surprising, in 2007 ESPN published an account of the Top 25 College Football Players of All Time. The list was headed by Red Grange (Barry Sanders was second, Herschel Walker was third. Jim Brown was 18th) and Charley Trippi came in at 20th. So what happened in the ensuing 12 years that saw Trippi fall off the list. I have seen Trippi and Sinkwich on several other publications’ all-time top greats. They both deserved to be included on the ESPN 150 list.
Frank Sinkwich is the first Georgia Bulldog to win the Heisman, the first Heisman winner to be born outside the United States and the first Heisman winner from a southern school.
He led the “Point-A-Minute” Bullpups freshman team of 1939 to an unbeaten season. As a sophomore in 1940, he made All-Southern first team.
As a junior in 1941, “Flatfoot” Sinkwich set an SEC rushing record with 1,103 yards which stood for eight years, and gained 713 yards passing for a new SEC total offense record of 1,816 yards. He led Georgia to a 40-26 victory over TCU in the Orange Bowl with a performance still considered by many as the best in all bowl history. He gained 139 yards, completed 9 of 13 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns — a total offensive effort of 382 yards. And he accomplished all that despite playing from the third game on with a broken jaw protected by a custom-made facemask. For his efforts, he was an All-America selection and finished fourth in the Heisman voting.
In his record setting senior season with the Bulldogs, Sinkwich gained 795 yards rushing and set the SEC passing record with 1,392 yards, a mark that stood for eight years. He set the SEC total offense record of 2,187 yards that same season. He led Georgia to another SEC record — 4,725 yards of team total offense. Although playing with two sprained ankles, he scored Georgia’s only TD in 9-0 victory over UCLA in the Rose Bowl. He was named a unanimous All-America choice and won the Heisman Trophy. The Associated Press overwhelmingly voted Sinkwich the “Number 1 athlete for 1942” over second-place finisher Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, a year in which Williams hit for baseball’s triple crown.
In his three-year career, Sinkwich rushed for 2,271 yards, passed for 2,331, and accounted for 60 touchdowns—30 rushing and 30 passing. Sinkwich was the No.1 draft choice of the Detroit Lions, where he earned All-Pro honors in 1943–1944, as well as being named as NFL MVP in 1944. Sinkwich was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954. His number 21 is one of only four Georgia jerseys retired.
All one needs to know about the career and place in history of Charles Louis Trippi comes from these impeccable sources. Possibly three of the 20th century’s most knowledgeable college football authorities, Alabama head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, Arkansas head coach, athletic director and long-time ABC Sports analyst Frank Broyles, and the legendary voice of college football, ABC play-by-play man Keith Jackson, each is on record of having stated that Charley Trippi was the greatest college football player they had ever seen play. Mighty high praise indeed.
The “Scintillating Sicilian” posed a triple threat on the field. Although primarily a running back, his versatility allowed him to fill a multitude of roles over his career, including quarterback, defensive back, punter, and return specialist. As a sophomore, he played alongside that season’s Heisman Trophy winner Sinkwich and guided Georgia to victory in the 1943 Rose Bowl and was named the game’s most valuable player. Georgia finished the season with a record of 11–1 and was named the consensus national champion.
Despite missing Georgia’s first five games of the 1945 season, Trippi was named a first-team All-Southeastern Conference back.
In 1946, Trippi led Georgia to its first undefeated season and a 20-10 victory over North Carolina in the Sugar Bowl. Against rival Georgia Tech, Trippi compiled 544 combined yards rushing, passing, and returning kicks, and scored three touchdowns in Georgia’s 35–7 victory.
Trippi was awarded the Maxwell Award as the most outstanding college player in the nation,the Walter Camp Memorial Trophy as the nation’s best back, was named the Southeastern Conference’s player of the year and was a unanimous choice for the All-America team. He finished as runner-up in Heisman Trophy voting behind Glenn Davis of Army.
Drafted first overall by the Cardinals in the NFL Draft, Trippi was also pursued by multiple professional baseball teams. He won an NFL Championship in 1947, was a five-time pro bowl selection, was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959 and was enshrined in Canton in 1965. His No. 62 was retired by Georgia.
When ESPN produces its next milestone list of greatest college football players, hopefully they will heed the advice of “Bear” Bryant and take a good look at the outstanding accomplishments of these two Georgia teammates and legends.
