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Daughter of Lombardi Trophy's designer wants apology from Tom Brady for trophy toss

jack baer
Staff writer
·3 min read

Tom Brady launched one of most-discussed passes of his career when he tossed the Lombardi Trophy between boats during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' aquatic victory parade, and one person now wants him to apologize for it.

Lorraine Grohs, who claims her father Greg Grohs was the master silversmith at Tiffany & Co. from 1967 to 1994 and crafted the first Vince Lombardi Trophy, blasted Brady's trophy toss while speaking with Leslie DelasBour of Fox 4 in Southwest Florida. Grohs called for Brady to apologize for an act she said was disrespectful.

From Fox 4:

"It just upset me that this trophy was disgraced and disrespected by being thrown as if it was a real football," said Lorraine Grohs.

"I have a big history of this trophy being made by my father and it's such an honor and I know all the craftsmen that made it when my dad was there also at Tiffany's and it takes a lot of hard work," said Grohs.

The toss in question, which Brady admitted came after a not insignificant amount of tequila, immediately went as viral as you ever see with championships parades. Brady's daughter reacted with visible horror as her father threw the seven-pound trophy with two hands to a waiting Cameron Brate.

The trophy landed safely and with much applause, but there is obviously an alternate timeline in which authorities are searching for the trophy at the bottom of the Hillsborough River right now.

The event was apparently stressful enough that Grohs has had trouble sleeping:

"I didn't sleep for the past two nights because of this. I was that upset, because I know the passion that goes into this trophy and how my dad and all his fellow silversmiths are so proud to make this."

Grohs added that she isn't a football fan, but watches the Super Bowl every year to see the pride with which players, coaches and owners lift the NFL's biggest prize.

Related: Tom Brady's sweetest moments with his family

Lombardi Trophy's origin comes from cocktail napkin

The Lombardi Trophy was first conceptualized in 1967 when then-NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle contacted Tiffany & Co. in search of a trophy for the upcoming clash between AFL and NFL champions for the first time ever. As the Pro Football Hall of Fame recounts, Tiffany design chief Oscar Riedener, who apparently knew nothing about football, fashioned a mock-up at his kitchen table, then drew a sketch on a cocktail napkin while having lunch with Rozelle days later. Rozelle liked the design, and the rest is history.

While the Hall of Fame doesn't mention Greg Grohs, he would have been the silversmith in charge of fashioning the actual trophy out of silver rather than cardboard or napkins. For that legacy, and the legacy of everyone else involved in creating the trophy, Lorraine Grohs wants Brady to apologize:

"This is nothing to do with your athletic ability whatsoever. It has everything to do with disrespecting a highly coveted trophy that a lot of work goes into by the silversmiths and all the other team players. I personally would like an apology, not just to me and my family and the other silversmiths but to the fans, all the fans out there, all the football fans, the other team players."

Of course, we can only wonder how Grohs might have felt had her father designed the Stanley Cup.

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