1980 College Football All-America Team

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 Hermann; (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

Tackles

Guards

Centers

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Defensive selections

Defensive ends

Defensive tackles

Middle guards

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Kickers

Punters

Key

Official selectors

Unofficial selectors

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014. pp. 3, 7. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Green, Easley All-American". The Pantagraph. December 3, 1980. p. B3.
  3. 1 2 Ted Gangi (ed.). "FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team" (PDF). Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "1980 UPI A-A Team". The Daily News (Huntingdon, PA). December 5, 1980. p. 6.
  5. 1 2 Murray Olderman (December 2, 1980). "NEA's 1980 All-America football team". The Daily News (Huntingdon, PA). p. 5.
  6. 1 2 "Walter Camp Foundation All-American Teams". Archived from the original on 2009-05-04. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
  7. ↑ John Nelson (September 3, 1989). "980 AP All-America Team--a Decade Later". The New York Times.
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