1961 College Football All-America Team
{{Short description|Official list of the best college football players of 1961}}
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The 1961 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1961. The six selectors recognized by the NCAA as "official" for the 1961 season are (1) the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), (2) the Associated Press (AP), (3) the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), (4) the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), (5) the Sporting News, and (6) the United Press International (UPI).
Consensus All-Americans
For the year 1961, the NCAA recognizes six published All-American teams as "official" designations for purposes of its consensus determinations. The following chart identifies the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans and displays which first-team designations they received.
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||||
| bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="15%" | Name
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="10%" | Position ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="10%" | School ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="7%" | Number ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="25%" | Official ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="10%" | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align="left" | Guard | LSU | 6/6 | AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI | CP, Time, WC |
| align="left" | Halfback | Syracuse | 6/6 | AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI | CP, Time, WC |
| align="left" | Fullback | Ohio State | 6/6 | AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI | CP, Time, WC |
| align="left" | Tackle | Alabama | 6/6 | AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI | CP, WC |
| align="left" | Halfback | Texas | 6/6 | AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI | CP, WC |
| align="left" | End | Maryland | 5/6 | AFCA, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI | CP, Time, WC |
| align="left" | Guard | Colorado | 5/6 | AFCA, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI | WC |
| align="left" | Center | Rutgers | 5/6 | AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, UPI | WC |
| align="left" | Quarterback | Minnesota | 5/6 | AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI | WC |
| align="left" | End | Miami (Fla.) | 4/6 | AP, FWAA, NEA, SN | Time, WC |
| align="left" | Tackle | Utah State | 4/6 | AP, FWAA, NEA, UPI | Time, WC |
| align="left" |
All-American selections for 1961
=Ends=
- Gary Collins, Maryland (AFCA, AP-2, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-1, CP, Time, WC)
- Bill Miller, Miami (Fla.) (AP-1, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-2, Time, WC)
- Greg Mather, Navy (AP-3, FWAA, UPI-2, CP)
- Jerry Hillebrand, Colorado (AP-1, FWAA)
- Pat Richter, Wisconsin (AP-2, UPI-1)
- Robert Mitinger, Penn State (AFCA, UPI-3)
- Hugh Campbell, Washington State (AP-3, UPI-3)
=Tackles=
- Billy Neighbors, Alabama (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA [guard], NEA, SN, UPI-1, CP, WC)
- Merlin Olsen, Utah State (AP-1, FWAA, NEA, UPI-1, Time, WC)
- Bobby Bell, Minnesota (AFCA, AP-3, FWAA, SN, UPI-2, CP)
- Ed Blaine, Missouri (AP-2, FWAA)
- Don Talbert, Texas (FWAA, UPI-3)
- Fate Echols, Northwestern (Time)
- Steve Barnett, Oregon (AP-2)
- Jim Dunaway, Ole Miss (UPI-2)
- Art Gregory, Duke (AP-3)
=Guards=
- Roy Winston, LSU (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-1, CP, Time, WC)
- Joe Romig, Colorado (AFCA, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-1, WC)
- Dave Behrman, Michigan State (AP-1, FWAA, UPI-3 [tackle])
- Nick Buoniconti, Notre Dame (UPI-2, CP)
- Bookie Bolin, Mississippi (Time)
- Mike Ingram, Ohio State (AP-2, UPI-2)
- Dave Watson, Georgia Tech (AP-2)
- Stan Sczurek, Purdue (AP-3, UPI-3)
- Larry Vignali, Pitt (AP-3, UPI-3)
=Centers=
- Alex Kroll, Rutgers (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, NEA, UPI-1, WC)
- Bill Van Buren, Iowa (SN, CP)
- Ron Hull, UCLA (AP-2, FWAA, UPI-3)
- Irv Goode, Kentucky (Time)
- Larry Onesti, Northwestern (AP-3, UPI-2)
=Quarterbacks=
- Sandy Stephens, Minnesota (AP-1, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-1, WC)
- Roman Gabriel, North Carolina State (AFCA, AP-2, FWAA, UPI-2, Time)
- John Hadl, Kansas (FWAA-1, AP-3, UPI-2)
- Doug Elmore, Mississippi (CP)
- Eddie Wilson, Arizona (AP-3)
=Halfbacks=
- Ernie Davis, Syracuse (AFCA, AP-1,FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-1, CP, Time, WC)
- Jimmy Saxton, Texas (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-1, CP, WC)
- Lance Alworth, Arkansas (AP-2, FWAA, UPI-2)
- Ronnie Bull, Baylor (UPI-3, Time)
- Pat Trammell, Alabama (AP-2, UPI-2)
- Bennie McRae, Michigan (AP-3)
- Dave Hoppman, Iowa State (AP-3, UPI-3)
=Fullbacks=
- Bob Ferguson, Ohio State (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-1, CP, Time, WC)
- Billy Ray Adams, Mississippi (AP-2, FWAA, UPI-3)
- George Saimes, Michigan State (UPI-3)
Key
{{smalldiv|1=
- Bold – Consensus All-American{{cite web|title=Football Award Winners|publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)|year=2016|access-date=October 21, 2017|page=9|url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2016/awards.pdf}}
- -1 – First-team selection
- -2 – Second-team selection
- -3 – Third-team selection
}}
=Official selectors=
{{smalldiv|1=
- AFCA = American Football Coaches Association{{cite news|title=Coaches' All-America|publisher=AFCA}}
- AP = Associated Press{{cite news|title=Big Line Tops Classy AP All-America Team|publisher=AP}}{{cite news|title=Miami's Bill Miller Chosen As All-American|newspaper=Sarasota Herald-Tribune|location=(Florida)|agency=Associated Press|date=December 8, 1961|page=36|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19611202&id=OZocAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QGUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7402,1733355}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=17BeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=py8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=5668%2C1353043 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=Giant line, brilliant backs mark AP All-America team |date=December 8, 1961 |page=18}}
- FWAA = Football Writers Association of America{{cite web|title=FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team|editor=Ted Gangi|access-date=February 8, 2015|url=http://www.sportswriters.net/fwaa/awards/allamerica/alltime.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150612055653/http://www.sportswriters.net/fwaa/awards/allamerica/alltime.pdf|archive-date=June 12, 2015}}
- NEA = Newspaper Enterprise Association{{cite news|title=Collins on NEA All-America Team|work=Gastonia Gazette|location=Gastonia, NC}}
- SN = Sporting News{{cite web|title=The Sporting News: College Football TSN All America Teams |work=The Sporting News |url=http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/almanac/nfl/cfbamer.html |access-date=19 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727192814/http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/almanac/nfl/cfbamer.html |archive-date=27 July 2009 }}
- UPI = United Press International{{cite news|title=UPI Selects 1961 All-America Club|work=Salt Lake Tribune|location=Salt Lake, Utah}}{{cite news|title=Ferguson, Davis, Romig Are Repeats On All-America Team|newspaper=Lodi News-Sentinel|location=(California)|agency=UPI|date=December 7, 1961|page=8|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2245&dat=19611207&id=7BgzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vTIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=5709,4679471}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=z_1VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9uIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5179%2C1234766 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=UPI |title=Ferguson, Davis head UPI squad|date=December 7, 1961 |page=3D}}
}}
=Other selectors=
{{smalldiv|1=
- CP = Central Press Association{{cite news|title=Captains All-America Teams|publisher=Central Press}}
- Time = Time magazine{{cite magazine|title=The Sporting News: 1961 All-America Teams|magazine=Time}}
- WC = Walter Camp Football Foundation{{cite web|title=All-America Teams |publisher=Walter Camp Football Foundation |url=http://waltercamp.org/index.php/teams_and_awards/ |access-date=19 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218214203/http://waltercamp.org/index.php/teams_and_awards/ |archive-date=18 December 2007 }}
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See also
References
{{Reflist|2}}
{{1961 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{College Football All-America Teams}}