1980_College_Football_All-America_Team

1980 College Football All-America Team

1980 College Football All-America Team

Official list of the best college football players of 1980

The 1980 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1980.

The NCAA recognizes four selectors as "official" for the 1980 season.[1] They are (1) the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), (2) the Associated Press (AP),[2] (3) the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA),[3] and (4) the United Press International (UPI).[4] The AP, UPI, and FWAA teams were selected by polling of sports writers and/or broadcasters. The AFCA team was based on a poll of coaches. Other notable selectors, though not recognized by the NCAA as official, included Football News, a national weekly football publication, the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA),[5] The Sporting News (TSN), and the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WC).[6]

Fourteen players were unanimous picks by all four official selectors. Seven of the unanimous picks were offensive players: (1) South Carolina running back and 1980 Heisman Trophy winner, George Rogers; (2) Georgia running back and 1982 Heisman Trophy winner, Herschel Walker; (3) Purdue quarterback and 1980 Sammy Baugh Trophy winner, Mark Herrmann; (4) Stanford wide receiver Ken Margerum; (5) Purdue tight end Dave Young; (6) Pittsburgh tackle Mark May; and (7) Notre Dame center John Scully. The seven unanimous picks on the defensive side were: (1) Pittsburgh defensive end Hugh Green, who won the 1980 Walter Camp Award, Maxwell Award, Lombardi Award, and Sporting News and UPI College Football Player of the Year awards; (2) Alabama defensive end E.J. Junior; (3) Houston defensive tackle Leonard Mitchell; (4) Baylor linebacker Mike Singletary; (5) North Carolina linebacker Lawrence Taylor; (6) UCLA defensive back Kenny Easley; and (7) USC defensive back Ronnie Lott.

In 1989, The New York Times published a follow-up on the 1980 AP All-America team. The article reported that 20 of the 22 first-team players went on to play in the NFL, with 13 still active and eight having received All-Pro honors.[7]

Offensive selections

Wide receivers

Tight ends

  • Dave Young, Purdue (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, TSN, WC)
  • Marvin Harvey, Southern Mississippi (NEA-1)
  • Clay Brown, Brigham Young (AP-3, UPI-2)
  • Benjie Pryor, Pitt (AP-2)
  • Rodney Holman, Tulane (NEA-2)

Tackles

Guards

Centers

Quarterbacks

  • Mark Herrmann, Purdue (College Football Hall of Fame) (AFCA [tie], AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC)
  • Jim McMahon, BYU (College Football Hall of Fame) (AFCA [tie], AP-2, UPI-2)
  • Art Schlichter, Ohio State (NEA-1)
  • John Elway, Stanford (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP-3, NEA-2, TSN)

Running backs

Defensive selections

Defensive ends

  • Hugh Green, Pittsburgh (College Football Hall of Fame) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, NEA-1, TSN, WC)
  • E.J. Junior, Alabama (AFCA, AP-1 [linebacker], FWAA, UPI-1, NEA-1, TSN, WC)
  • Scott Zettek, Notre Dame (AP-1)
  • Derrie Nelson, Nebraska (AP-2, FWAA, UPI-2, NEA-2)
  • Don Blackmon, Tulsa (AP-2)
  • Lyman White, LSU (NEA-2)
  • Rich Dixon, California (AP-3)
  • Rickey Jackson, Pittsburgh (AP-3, UPI-2)

Defensive tackles

Middle guards

  • Ron Simmons, Florida State (College Football Hall of Fame) (AFCA, UPI-1, WC)
  • Jim Burt, Miami (Fla.) (NEA-1)
  • Stan Gardner, Kansas (UPI-2)
  • Hosea Taylor, Houston (NEA-2)

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Kickers

Punters

Key

  • Bold – Consensus All-American[1]
  • -1 – First-team selection
  • -2 – Second-team selection
  • -3 – Third-team selection

Official selectors

Unofficial selectors

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. pp. 3, 12. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  2. [2]
    "Green, Easley All-American". The Pantagraph. December 3, 1980. p. B3.
  3. [3]
    Ted Gangi (ed.). "FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2019. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  4. [4]
    "1980 UPI A-A Team". The Daily News (Huntingdon, PA). December 5, 1980. p. 6.
  5. [5]
    Murray Olderman (December 2, 1980). "NEA's 1980 All-America football team". The Daily News (Huntingdon, PA). p. 5.
  6. [6]
    "Walter Camp Foundation All-American Teams". Archived from the original on March 30, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2009.
  7. [7]
    John Nelson (September 3, 1989). "1980 AP All-America Team--a Decade Later". The New York Times.
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