ORLANDO, Fla. (FWAA) The Football Writers Association of
America's 61st All-America Team was announced on Saturday afternoon
during a televised program on ABC Sports from the ABC Theater at
Disney-MGM studios.
The FWAA All-America Team, the second-longest continuously-published
team in college football, has been a staple of college football since 1944.
But this is the first time in 15 years the team has been shown on television,
during a program sponsored by Cingular.
Big Ten co-champion Michigan led all teams with four players on the FWAA's
25-man team senior offensive lineman David Baas, senior wide receiver
Braylon Edwards and two defensive backs, seniors Marlin Jackson and Ernest
Shazor.
Oklahoma, which placed six players on the FWAA team a year ago, was next
with three standout freshman running back Adrian Peterson, senior offensive
tackle Jammal Brown, the Outland Trophy winner, and senior defensive end
Dan Cody.
Peterson is the only freshman on the team, which includes two sophomores.
Top-ranked USC had two players on the team, sophomore kick returner Reggie
Bush and senior defensive lineman Shaun Cody. The other sophomore on the
FWAA team was Michigan State punter Brandon Fields.
There were four FWAA All-Americans from teams other than those in the
six major Bowl Championship Series conferences.
Mountain West Conference champion Utah placed quarterback Alex Smith
and senior offensive lineman Chris Kemoeatu on the team.
Southern Mississippi senior linebacker Michael Boley from Conference
USA and Marshall senior defensive end Jonathan Goddard from the Mid-American
Conference were the other selections from the smaller leagues.
And there were two repeat FWAA All-Americas from a year ago, Texas senior
linebacker Derrick Johnson and Florida State senior offensive tackle Alex
Barron. Georgia end David Pollack, another senior who was named the Lombardi
Trophy winner, made the team two years ago as a sophomore.
First selected three years after the organization was formed, the FWAA's
inaugural team in 1944 included Army's Heisman Trophy tandem of Doc Blanchard
and Glenn Davis and Georgia Tech's Frank Broyles, who later became Arkansas'
head football coach and athletic director.
Over the years, the FWAA Team has highlighted all the game's great players
in several media forums.
From 1946-70, LOOK Magazine published the FWAA team and brought
players and selected writers to New York City for a celebration. During
that 25-year period, the FWAA team was introduced on national television
shows hosted by Bob Hope, Steve Allen, Perry Como and others.
After LOOK folded, the FWAA started a long association with NCAA
Films (later known as NCAA Productions), which produced a 30-minute television
show and sold it to sponsors. The team was part of ABC television's 1981
college football series.
From 1983-90, the team was either on ABC or ESPN, and now has returned
to the national spotlight on ABC.
The FWAA team has included most of the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award
winners over the years and Outland Trophy winners. Those are the three oldest
awards in major-college football.
Included in the list of FWAA All-America alumni is USC's Lynn Swann (1973),
who was the master of ceremonies at this year's banquet. Another FWAA All-American,
SMU's Jerry LeVias, the first African-American scholarship player in the
Southwest Conference, was presented an Alumni Award here for his courage
and performance during his career with the Mustangs. LeVias was an FWAA
All-America in 1968.
This
is the third year Florida Citrus Sports has hosted a gala celebration
for the team in Orlando. FCS brings all the members of the team to one spot
to honor them with a banquet.
The combination of Cingular's sponsorship of the one-hour television
presentation on ABC and the Team Celebration Banquet is believed to be the
first time the same team has been honored in such a dual fashion.
For 61 years, the FWAA has selected an All-America team with the help
of its members and an All-America Committee, which represents each regions
in the country.
Some of the true greats of the writing profession have helped to select
this team over the years Grantland Rice, Bert McGrane, Blackie Sherrod,
Furman Bisher, Pat Harmon, Fred Russell, Edwin Pope, Murray Olderman, Paul
Zimmerman and the list goes on and on.
For more information about the FWAA All-America Team and other FWAA awards,
go to www.footballwriters.com.
Related links:
FWAA All-America Team (www.allamericateam.com)
· Cingular/ABC
Sports All-America Banquet program (.pdf)