The trophy was created by American artist Eugenie Torgerson, who was married to Bob Baird at the time.

The winning school gets to keep the trophy, a distinctive chain of brass fish representing each game played in the rivalry, and gets to add a new fish to the chain to represent that year's game.

A four-inch blue gill signified the first 21–14 narrow win for Case Western Reserve.

Other fish represented on the trophy include a northern pike, a flounder, a carp, a walleye, a catfish, a rainbow trout, a sturgeon, a sucker, a crappie, a muskie, a sheepshead, a gar, a largemouth bass, and a smallmouth bass.

[1] In 1996, Sports Illustrated recognized the Baird Brothers Trophy as one of the most distinctive in college football.