Former Gators Tebow, Youngblood earn spots on FWAA's 75th Anniversary All-America Team
Thursday, August 20, 2015 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Tim Tebow was the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy and helped the Gators win two national championships.
How does the Florida icon rank among the best to play college football?
Based on the Football Writers Association of America's Silver Anniversary Team, Tebow is one of the game's all-time greats. So is former UF defensive lineman Jack Youngblood.
Tebow and Youngblood are the two Gators to earn spots on the FWAA's 75th Anniversary All-America Team, announced Thursday. The team celebrates the association's All-America teams from near the end of World War II through the 2014 season.
"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."
Florida fans might ask, "How is Tebow not the first-team quarterback?" Then again, former Navy Heisman winner Roger Staubach was pretty good, too. Staubach earned first-team honors and former Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier was selected as the third-team QB.
How was the team selected?
According to a press release from the FWAA: The team was chosen after nomination ballots 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.
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75th ANNIVERSARY FWAA ALL-AMERICA TEAM
|
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE |
||
|
QB |
Roger Staubach |
Navy |
|
RB |
Archie Griffin |
Ohio State |
|
RB |
Herschel Walker |
Georgia |
|
WR |
Larry Fitzgerald |
Pittsburgh |
|
WR |
Jerry Rice |
Mississippi Valley State |
|
TE |
Keith Jackson |
Oklahoma |
|
OL |
John Hannah |
Alabama |
|
OL |
Orlando Pace |
Ohio State |
|
OL |
Will Shields |
Nebraska |
|
OL |
Ron Yary |
USC |
|
C |
Dave Rimington |
Nebraska |
|
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE |
||
|
DT |
Lee Roy Selmon |
Oklahoma |
|
DT |
Ndamukong Suh |
Nebraska |
|
DE |
Leon Hart |
Notre Dame |
|
DE |
Ted Hendricks |
Miami (Fla.) |
|
LB |
Tommy Nobis |
Texas |
|
LB |
Mike Singletary |
Baylor |
|
LB |
Derrick Thomas |
Alabama |
|
DB |
Ronnie Lott |
USC |
|
DB |
Deion Sanders |
Florida State |
|
DB |
Jack Tatum |
Ohio State |
|
DB |
Charles Woodson |
Michigan |
|
FIRST TEAM SPECIALISTS |
||
|
P |
Ray Guy |
Southern Miss |
|
K |
Kevin Butler |
Georgia |
|
RS |
Johnny Rodgers |
Nebraska |
|
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE |
||
|
QB |
Tim Tebow |
Florida |
|
RB |
Tony Dorsett |
Pittsburgh |
|
RB |
Barry Sanders |
Oklahoma State |
|
WR |
Fred Biletnikoff |
Florida State |
|
WR |
Randy Moss |
Marshall |
|
TE |
Mike Ditka |
Pittsburgh |
|
OL |
Bill Fralic |
Pittsburgh |
|
OL |
John Hicks |
Ohio State |
|
OL |
Calvin Jones |
Iowa |
|
OL |
Jonathan Ogden |
UCLA |
|
C |
Chuck Bednarik |
Penn |
|
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE |
||
|
DT |
Merlin Olsen |
Utah State |
|
DT |
Randy White |
Maryland |
|
DE |
Hugh Green |
Pittsburgh |
|
DE |
Bruce Smith |
Virginia Tech |
|
LB |
Brian Bosworth |
Oklahoma |
|
LB |
Dick Butkus |
Illinois |
|
LB |
Luke Kuechly |
Boston College |
|
DB |
Champ Bailey |
Georgia |
|
DB |
Kenny Easley |
UCLA |
|
DB |
Jerry Gray |
Texas |
|
DB |
Ed Reed |
Miami (Fla.) |
|
SECOND TEAM SPECIALISTS |
||
|
P |
Russell Erxleben |
Texas |
|
K |
Mason Crosby |
Colorado |
|
RS |
Raghib Ismail |
Notre Dame |
|
THIRD TEAM OFFENSE |
||
|
QB |
Tommie Frazier |
Nebraska |
|
RB |
Bo Jackson |
Auburn |
|
RB |
Doak Walker |
SMU |
|
WR |
Anthony Carter |
Michigan |
|
WR |
Calvin Johnson |
Georgia Tech |
|
TE |
Gordon Hudson |
BYU |
|
OL |
Barrett Jones |
Alabama |
|
OL |
Willie Roaf |
Louisiana Tech |
|
OL |
Jerry Sisemore |
Texas |
|
OL |
Dean Steinkuhler |
Nebraska |
|
C |
Jim Ritcher |
N.C. State |
|
THIRD TEAM DEFENSE |
||
|
DT |
Steve Emtman |
Washington |
|
DT |
Reggie White |
Tennessee |
|
DE |
Bubba Smith |
Michigan State |
|
DE |
Jack Youngblood |
Florida |
|
LB |
Jack Ham |
Penn State |
|
LB |
Lee Roy Jordan |
Alabama |
|
LB |
Chris Spielman |
Ohio State |
|
DB |
Dré Bly |
North Carolina |
|
DB |
Dave Brown |
Michigan |
|
DB |
Troy Polamalu |
USC |
|
DB |
Roy Williams |
Oklahoma |
|
THIRD TEAM SPECIALISTS |
||
|
P |
Rohn Stark |
Florida State |
|
K |
Tony Franklin |
Texas A&M |
|
RS |
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.
