by Travis Normand

• I first posted about this trophy on a different blog (“The College Football Independent”) on July 2, 2006.
• Later I moved the post to my then WordPress.com blog (“The Crystal Football”) on June 20, 2011.
• Now, I am finally moving this post to the OnePointSafety.com

In 1970 Dartmouth went undefeated and won the Ivy League Championship
(and the Lambert Trophy).

On June 28th 2006, one of the trophies from that team sold on eBay.com for $230.50.

From what I can tell, this is not the team trophy from 1970.  It is, according to my best guess, only a replica of the actual team trophy. Just as every member of a championship team usually receives a championship ring, it is not unheard of for a team to give out smaller replicas of the team trophy (although they are still pretty rare).

*Note – The Ivy League Football Championship Trophy is a “Static/Traveling” trophy.  It travels from champion to champion each year and never takes on a new shape, form, or design. So in this case, this trophy was created by Dartmouth to commemorate their 1970 Championship season (and was not given to them by the Ivy League). Dartmouth most likely made one main trophy for the school and replicas for each player, coach, etc.  This is common among teams in a conference with a static trophy, as they want something to display in the trophy case if they have to give up the official conference trophy the next season.

This Dartmouth trophy apparently belonged to Alex Turner (Halfback), as you can plainly see from the plate on the front of the trophy. I don’t know exactly how this ended up on eBay but I have a pretty good idea.  However, I do know that it was not Alex Turner who was selling the trophy.

As for the actual team trophy that belongs to Dartmouth, I have not seen it or found any info on it, so I can’t say for certain that this is an exact replica, or what the scale comparison is.

You can see from the pictures of the trophy that it is quiet worn and well used. The wood base is in good solid condition, but you can tell it has been banged up a bit. The front of the base has a heavy plaque showing the outcome of each game from the 1970 season, along with two circles — both containing University logos or seals.

On one side is a picture (on metal) of the Lambert Trophy (see below, on right) and the static Ivy League Football Trophy (below, left).

Across the back of the trophy is a large team photo in black and white. Across the bottom of the team photo it says “1970 Dartmouth College Football Squad.” This lettering across the bottom is a little hard to read due to some heavy scratches across the wording.

I don’t know if there is (or was) a photo on the fourth side of the trophy. My guess is that there was a photo there at one point in time, however it has since been damaged or has broken off, otherwise it would have been displayed in the auction listing.

Finally, sitting on top of the trophy is a large metal football with very nice detail (as you can see by looking at the laces of the football). This is the most impressive part of the trophy. The raised letters and large/centered Dartmouth “D” is very impressive.

If anyone reads this and has more info on the trophy, please leave a comment below.  I would love to hear from you.

Here is the info from the auction listing (including dimensions of the trophy):

“This is a great item, especially if like college football and/or live on the East Coast. The Lambert Trophy is awarded every year to the top Division I college team from the Northeastern states or to a team outside of those areas that plays half or more of their schedule against teams in that region. In 1970, the Lambert Trophy went to the undefeated Dartmouth team. This is the very trophy awarded to halfback Alex Turner from that dynamite team. 10″ tall on 9″ x 6″ base with embossed team record for the season on one pyramid side, trophy photos on another side and team photo on another. For some reason “1970 Dartmouth College” is kinda scratched out on the back as you can probably see but overall this is a thick and heavy, rather substantial, original award and one not likely to be won by Dartmouth any time soon unless they can get over on Miami, Penn State or Boston College. Of course DU isn’t D1 any more so they definitely won’t be taking this beauty home any time soon.”

* * * *

*Update: The following two comments were posted on my original blog post at “The College Football Independent” and I have copied them here:

D1971brb said:

This was an original trophy given to all members of the undefeated dartmouth 1970 football team (instead of rings). It is not a replica, but an original design. Coach Blackman preferred to give out trophies to championship teams. Alex Turner was a sophomore letterman on the team.

I later received this comment:

Alexis said:

I am Alex Turner’s daughter and this post was just recently brought to our family’s attention. We would love to find out more about the trophy’s owner and see if we can bring it back to the family. If you have any other information, please reply to this post. Anything would be appreciated. Thank you – the Turner Family.

I responded to Alexis’ comment on my blog asking how I could get in contact with her. Unfortunately, I never heard back from her.

On November 7, 2012, I received the following comment on “The Crystal Football.”

B
My boss played running back for this team. He has the trophy in his office but he also has a championship ring to go with it.