Thorp was a native of New York, born and raised in the neighborhood known as the "Roaring Forties." He enrolled at Columbia University where he played at the tackle position for the school's football teams in 1903 and 1904. He was among the first non-Ivy League players to be named to Walter Camp's All-America team, and was selected as an All-American in both 1903 and 1904. In October 1905, amid the movement to eradicate professionalism from college football, Columbia's faculty dropped Thorp from the university. The New York Times wrote that Thorp had been "the backbone" of the team and reported that Thorp's expulsion was "the worst blow that Columbia football has received" and a move that "cast the gloom of despair" over the prospects for the Columbia football team in 1905. Upon being expe