Platypus Trophy - Reappearance

Reappearance

In 2004, with the trophy long forgotten, Oregonian sportswriter John Canzano wrote a column lamenting the fact that uniquely unlike other college rivalry games, the Civil War had no trophy. Spady contacted Canzano and informed him of the existence of the Platypus Trophy, and a follow-up Canzano column ignited a search for the missing trophy. Led by Dan Williams, a UO administrator who had been the student body president who handed the trophy over to his OSU counterpart in 1961, the trophy was rediscovered in 2005 in a closet at the University of Oregon's McArthur Court.

After obtaining Spady's signature on the work, Williams returned the trophy to the Oregon Alumni Association so it could resume its role as a game trophy. However, despite initial interest from the schools' athletic directors to start awarding the trophy again, after viewing the abstract piece, they declined to do so. Instead, beginning with the 2007 Civil War, the trophy was presented to the winning school's alumni association. Oregon State was the first recipient of the restored trophy after defeating Oregon 38-31 in overtime.