FFWA 75th Anniversary All-American Team

This is good football stuff but then all football stuff is good stuff.

	Aug. 20, 2015 For Immediate Release Contact: Steve Richardson 214-870-6516 .pdf version
75 players selected for three all-time teams
FWAA UNVEILS 75TH ANNIVERSARY ALL-AMERICA TEAM
DALLAS (FWAA) – The Football Writers Association of America proudly announces its 75th Anniversary All-America Team, celebrating the association's All-America teams from near the end of World War II through the 2014 season. The FWAA, which was founded in 1941, has picked an annual All-America team since the 1944 season, making it the second longest continuously selected team in major college football. The FWAA's first All-America team in 1944 included Army's famous running back tandem of Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis and Georgia Tech's Frank Broyles, who later became Arkansas' legendary head football coach. Seven decades later, the 2014 team featured Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota of Oregon, Outland Trophy winner, offensive tackle Brandon Scherff of Iowa, and Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner, linebacker Scooby Wright III of Arizona. "This was one of the most fun, yet most difficult exercises I've had in life – next to parallel parking, that is," said FWAA 75th All-America Committee chairman Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman. "Truly, it was an exciting – if not impossible – task to find the best 75 college football players ever. Please save your hate mail, but feel free to weigh in and tell us how we messed up. And I'm sure we did, but no one should argue that it wasn't a great idea to honor the best who have ever played the game. Let the debating begin." A nomination ballot with selected players from all FWAA All-America teams was sent to the entire membership this spring. The popular vote was then taken into consideration by a Blue Ribbon Committee of FWAA past presidents, current board members and officers. That committee put the finishing touches on selecting the 75-man team. In order for a player to be considered for the FWAA's 75th team, he had to be on a previous FWAA All-America team. The FWAA's 25-man first team included Navy quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach, the only member from a military academy; the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner running back Archie Griffin of Ohio State; three-time FWAA All-America end Leon Hart of Notre Dame; and the only two-time Outland Trophy winner, center Dave Rimington of Nebraska. On the three 25-man teams, the Cornhuskers led all schools with six selections – including four on the first team – and four of their overall honorees are Outland Trophy winners. Ohio State and Pittsburgh each had five selections and Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas had four. Schools with three selections were Florida State, Georgia, Michigan and USC. 75th ANNIVERSARY FWAA ALL-AMERICA TEAM OFFENSE POS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM THIRD TEAM QB Roger Staubach, Navy Tim Tebow, Florida Tommie Frazier, Nebraska RB Archie Griffin, Ohio State Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh Bo Jackson, Auburn RB Herschel Walker, Georgia Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State Doak Walker, SMU WR Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh Fred Biletnikoff, Florida State Anthony Carter, Michigan WR Jerry Rice, Mississippi Valley State Randy Moss, Marshall Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech TE Keith Jackson, Oklahoma Mike Ditka, Pittsburgh Gordon Hudson, BYU OL John Hannah, Alabama Bill Fralic, Pittsburgh Barrett Jones, Alabama OL Orlando Pace, Ohio State John Hicks, Ohio State Willie Roaf, Louisiana Tech OL Will Shields, Nebraska Calvin Jones, Iowa Jerry Sisemore, Texas OL Ron Yary, USC Jonathan Ogden, UCLA Dean Steinkuhler, Nebraska C Dave Rimington, Nebraska Chuck Bednarik, Penn Jim Ritcher, N.C. State DEFENSE POS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM THIRD TEAM DT Lee Roy Selmon, Oklahoma Merlin Olsen, Utah State Steve Emtman, Washington DT Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska Randy White, Maryland Reggie White, Tennessee DE Leon Hart, Notre Dame Hugh Green, Pittsburgh Bubba Smith, Michigan State DE Ted Hendricks, Miami (Fla.) Bruce Smith, Virginia Tech Jack Youngblood, Florida LB Tommy Nobis, Texas Brian Bosworth, Oklahoma Jack Ham, Penn State LB Mike Singletary, Baylor Dick Butkus, Illinois Lee Roy Jordan, Alabama LB Derrick Thomas, Alabama Luke Kuechly, Boston College Chris Spielman, Ohio State DB Ronnie Lott, USC Champ Bailey, Georgia Dré Bly, North Carolina DB Deion Sanders, Florida State Kenny Easley, UCLA Dave Brown, Michigan DB Jack Tatum, Ohio State Jerry Gray, Texas Troy Polamalu, USC DB Charles Woodson, Michigan Ed Reed, Miami (Fla.) Roy Williams, Oklahoma SPECIALISTS POS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM THIRD TEAM P Ray Guy, Southern Miss Russell Erxleben, Texas Rohn Stark, Florida State K Kevin Butler, Georgia Mason Crosby, Colorado Tony Franklin, Texas A&M RS johnny Rodgers, Nebraska Raghib Ismail, Notre Dame Derek Abney, Kentucky 75th Anniversary All-Americans by school (75 players from 41 schools): Nebraska 6, Ohio State 5, Pittsburgh 5, Alabama 4, Oklahoma 4, Texas 4, Florida State 3, Georgia 3, Michigan 3, USC 3, Florida 2, Miami (Fla.) 2, Notre Dame 2, UCLA 2, Auburn 1, Baylor 1, Boston College 1, BYU 1, Colorado 1, Georgia Tech 1, Illinois 1, Iowa 1, Kentucky 1, Louisiana Tech 1, Marshall 1, Maryland 1, Michigan State 1, Mississippi Valley State 1, Navy 1, North Carolina 1, N.C. State 1, Oklahoma State 1, Penn 1, Penn State 1, SMU 1, Southern Miss 1, Tennessee 1, Texas A&M 1, Utah State 1, Virginia Tech 1, Washington 1. 75th Anniversary All-Americans by current conference: Big Ten Conference 19, Atlantic Coast Conference 15, Southeastern Conference 13, Big 12 Conference 10, Pac-12 Conference 7, Conference USA 3, Independents 3, American Athletic Conference 2, Ivy League 1, Mountain West Conference 1, Southwestern Athletic Conference 1. "Picking the FWAA's 75th Anniversary teams was like taking a final exam with no wrong answers," said 2015 FWAA President Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Herald. "Even though some answers may be more 'right' than others, this will add to the colorful conversation about college football, honor those chosen, and help celebrate the game." The quarterbacks of the top two teams are both Heisman Trophy winners: Staubach and Tim Tebow of Florida. Quarterback Tommie Frazier of Nebraska was selected to the third team after leading Nebraska to back-to-back national titles and finishing runner-up in the Heisman Trophy his senior season. All six of the running backs are Heisman Trophy winners: Griffin, Georgia's Herschel Walker, Pittsburgh's Tony Dorsett, Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders, Auburn's Bo Jackson and SMU's Doak Walker. There are 16 Outland winners (selected since 1946) and five Bronko Nagurski Trophy winners (selected since 1993) on the three teams. All eight decades in which the FWAA teams have been selected are represented on the 75-man team, starting in the 1940s with SMU's Walker all the way through Alabama's two-time All-America Barrett Jones, the 2011 Outland winner. In all, there are 56 members of the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame and 41 schools are represented on the three 25-man teams. The FWAA has selected All-America Teams in different forms over the years. All the teams are online at allamericateam.com and footballwriters.com in the All-America section in the FWAA awards area. "This was truly an enriching experience picking this team," said FWAA Executive Director Steve Richardson. "It put our members in contact with the great players of the past and truly gave them a better snapshot of college football history. All of our All-Americans were great, but picking this team was like choosing between a filet mignon and a Kansas City strip." Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of 1,400 men and women who cover college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson. The FWAA welcomes comments on the selection of its 75th Anniversary All-America Team. Please send your comments toallamerica@fwaa.com or Tweet them to @TheFWAA.

It's important to remember that the players are selected from FFWA All-American teams. Each player had to be a part of those teams to be a part of this team.

It can be difficult to look at all-time college teams without considering what the players may/may not have accomplished at the professional level. At least it is for me. I have to pause when I see Archie Griffin as the first team running back and the likes of Tony Dorsett, Barry Sanders, Bo Jackson, and Doak Walker behind him. The same thing can be said for quarterback. I hope that no one ever forgets how great Tim Tebow was in college because of his scattershot pro career. He was so great that I'm surprised that Roger Staubach got the first team nod on this team. 

Doak Walker, Leon Hart, and Chuck Bednarik are the only players whose college and pro careers came before my lifetime. It's interesting that the team is mostly populated with post-1970 football players.

As a Minnesota Vikings fan, I like the inclusion of Ron Yary, Randy Moss, and Anthony Carter. Jerry Gray didn't play a single down for the Vikings but he's presently coaching their defensive backs. 

As a Cal fan, it's disappointing to see no Golden Bears. They haven't had a lot of football success so it shouldn't really come as a surprise that none of their own made the team. Early 1950s linemen Rod Franz and Les Richter probably received some consideration. More recently, Tony Gonzalez would have been a fine choice but it would be hard to kick any of the chosen tight ends from the team. 

It was a real treat to see Jonathan Ogden, Steve Emtman, Troy Polamalu, and Charles Woodson play in person. I saw Dick Butkus' nephew play in person but that doesn't count. Based on a particular game in which he dismantled Cal, I'm surprised to see USC's Keyshawn Johnson not included. It would be real tough to boot any of the six receivers. That might be the one position in which the players selected had a pro career that at least matched their great college careers. Jerry Rice and Fred Biletnikoff are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Randy Moss will be there soon. Larry Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson will join them about five years after they retire. Anthony Carter was brilliant for most of his eight years with the Vikings. His career was good enough to be chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Vikings.

One player on this team that really brought back some memories of his college days is Hugh Green. Tony Dorsett and Dan Marino might have been the main reason that Pitt received quite a bit of attention back then. And deservedly so. Those offensive stars got the Panthers on TV and into the national rankings. It was Green and the Pitt defense that had my attention. He was such a great football player. Rickey Jackson didn't get as much attention as Green on the defense but he was as much fun to watch. One of the best 1-2 defensive punches that I've ever seen in college football. 

Good football stuff.