Charley Trippi Was the NFL’s First “Bonus Baby”

Following the 1947 Sugar Bowl, both the Yankees and the Cardinals presented substantial offers to Trippi, and the efforts of both teams to land this valuable athlete were highly publicized. Of course, there was speculation in the media over whether Trippi would accept one of the lucrative offers to play pro football.

Or, perhaps he would swing towards baseball and take advantage of the new rules which would require a well-compensated rookie to remain on the big-league roster for two seasons. On Tuesday, January 14, things began to heat up as baseball’s Boston Red Sox revealed that Trippi would likely be that team’s property if he decided to give up professional football.

On that same day, Trippi visited New York and toured Yankee Stadium after learning that the New York football Yankees and the New York Yankees of baseball fame had agreed to partner in a sizeable cooperative effort to sign Trippi. 

By Thursday, January 16, the New York Daily News posted the latest update in its headline which read: “Trippi, Yanks Near Agreement” and stating: “The most wanted athlete of the hour, All-America Charley Trippi of Georgia, is expected to sign a lucrative Yankee football-baseball contract sometime this morning.”

Even Trippi seemed to agree by stating: “I don’t think we will have much trouble reaching an agreement. The Yankees offered me the best offer I have received and I simply want to talk things over with Wally Butts and several others.”

But Charles Bidwill was not done yet. Ironically, he joined Trippi on his trip to New York and was well appraised of all contract offers from his New York competition. It was reported that the football Yankees offered Trippi a four-year, $60,000 contract while the baseball Yankees pitched in with a two-year deal with an unspecified salary, with the two contracts thought to be worth over a combined $100,000—an extraordinary amount in 1947.

Although the combined Yankees’ offer was said to be higher, Trippi eventually agreed to terms with the Cardinals, as reported by the Associated Press: “Charley Trippi slipped past the clutching arms of the New York Yankees’ football team today, stiff-armed the Yankees’ baseball secondary, and wound up with the Chicago Cardinals for what is known in the gridiron parlance as pay dirt.”

The four-year deal was in the $100,000 range and was probably the result of Bidwill’s personal effort to persuade Trippi to join the Cards. After all, he had performed some legal work in the past for the young player and had been receptive to Trippi’s request that he also be allowed to pursue his professional baseball career. Trippi called it “the highest offer ever given a player in pro football.” 

Later, Trippi told the Associated Press that “The Yankees treated me very fairly. I had to turn the Yankee offer down because the Cardinal offer was better for me in the long run.” 

Behind the scenes, a different story unfolded. Out of the public eye, Bidwill literally followed Trippi around the country in his effort to sign the talented player. Cardinals’ president Ray Benningsen recalled that for Bidwill “It was his greatest victory. Yet, I knew every move in advance. During the time when he was carrying on his cross-country dickering with Trippi, I’d hear from him five or six times a day. He’d call from New York, or Florida, or New Orleans.”

Because of this tenacity, Trippi agreed to become a member of the Cardinals BEFORE his well-publicized trip to New York. As Trippi recalled: “Mr. Bidwill asked me in good faith to go to New York and see what the Yanks had to offer.” Coach Conzelman added: “Bidwill had already bagged Trippi while Dan Topping (the New York owner) was putting on his hunting jacket and practicing bird calls.”

To which Trippi added: “I had to find out, of course, what the All-America Conference had to offer. But basically, my heart was set on playing for Mr. Bidwill.” 

It was great news for the Cardinals who won the 1947 NFL title and Trippi enjoyed a Hall of Fame career through the 1955 season. When he left the game in December of 1955, his 6, 053 yards of total yards was the best in NFL history up to that point.

As for baseball, Trippi did manage to play one season for the Atlanta Crackers in the minor leagues, hitting a robust .334 average in 1947, but then decided to concentrate his efforts on pro football. The sad part of our story is that the determined Charles Bidwill never saw Trippi in a Cardinals’ uniform. Bidwill passed away before the 1947 season, but not before adding Trippi as the final piece that would reward the Cardinals with their last NFL championship in 1947.

Thank you for listening today and please join us next time as we explore an extraordinary NFL championship game where the Chicago Bears nearly ran out of footballs!