Kickoff Countdown: Who wore it best? #62
UGASports is counting down the days until the Bulldogs’ 2024 season opener. For each day in our countdown, we will reveal our opinion of the best player in Georgia history to wear that jersey number.
With that in mind, UGASports selects Charley Trippi as the best Georgia player to wear jersey number 62.
#62 CHARLEY TRIPPI
Position: Halfback, Quarterback, Defensive Back, Punter, Returner
Hometown (High School): Pittston, PA (Pittston)
Height/Weight: 5-11, 185
Lettered: 1942, 1945-1946
Stats: 1,669 yards rushing, 32 touchdown rushes, 125 yards receiving, 4 touchdown receptions, 1,566 yards passing, 15+ TD passes (certain offensive, defensive and special teams stats are incomplete in Georgia’s record book).
Career: Charley Trippi is among the greatest players of any sport in University of Georgia history. Trippi was one of the leaders for Georgia’s 1942 squad that went 11-1 and won the SEC title as well as a share of a National Championship. He would serve in the United States Air Force during World World II and miss the 1943, 1944, and part of the 1945 seasons for the Bulldogs. He would play the Trippi's final season playing for Georgia was certainly memorable. He would do it all as he rushed for 744 yards, passed for 622 yards, amassed 120 receiving yards, and returned punts as well. On defense, he led the nation in interceptions with five. In the Sugar Bowl that season against North Carolina, Trippi played all 60 minutes as Georgia finished a perfect 11-0 that year, winning the SEC and part of the National Championship once more. Individually, he won the Maxwell Award as the country’s most valuable player and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting. Iconic legend Jim Thorpe said Trippi was the "greatest football player I have ever seen." Trippi was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959. He is one of four Georgia football players to have his number retired.
Trippi also played baseball at Georgia and dominated there as well. He hit an incredible .464 in 1946, which is still the second-highest average by a Bulldog in any season. During the spring of 1947, while still in school, he played professional baseball for the Atlanta Crackers.
Post- UGA Football Career: Trippi was the first pick overall by the Chicago Cardinals in the 1945 NFL Draft as a future pick (different rules back then on when players could be drafted). He helped lead the Cardinals to the 1947 NFL Championship. It was the last time the Cardinals franchise won it all. Trippi did everything in the NFL as well. He played as a left halfback for four seasons before switching to quarterback for two years. He then moved back to offensive halfback for one more season before changing almost exclusively to defense in 1954 and 1955. He also was the Cardinals' punter and he excelled on the punt and kickoff return teams.
Meanwhile, Trippi returned to Athens in the offseason and was the head coach of Georgia’s baseball team in 1948 and 1949. Trippi was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.
Trippi returned to Athens to live out his life, eventually passing away on October 19, 2022 at the age of 100.
