1938 All-America college football team
The 1938 All-America college football team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose All-America college football teams in 1938. The nine selectors recognized by the NCAA as "official" for the 1938 season are Collier's Weekly, as selected by Grantland Rice, the Associated Press, the United Press, the All-America Board, the International News Service, Liberty magazine, the Newspaper Enterprise Association, Newsweek, and the Sporting News.
Four players were unanimous All-Americans on all of the major All-American teams: TCU quarterback Davey O'Brien, Pittsburgh fullback Marshall Goldberg, Michigan guard Ralph Heikkinen and Notre Dame tackle Ed Beinor.
Consensus All-Americans
For the year 1938, the NCAA recognizes nine 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.| Name | Position | School | Number | Official | Other |
| Ed Beinor | Tackle | Notre Dame | 9/9 | AAB, AP, CO, INS, LIB, NEA, NW, SN, UP | CP, DT, ID, NYS, PW, WC |
| Ralph Heikkinen | Guard | Michigan | 9/9 | AAB, AP, CO, INS, LIB, NEA, NW, SN, UP | CP, DT, NYS, PW, WC |
| Davey O'Brien | Quarterback | TCU | 9/9 | AAB, AP, CO, INS, LIB, NEA, NW, SN, UP | CP, DT, NYS, PW, WC |
| Marshall Goldberg | Fullback | Pittsburgh | 9/9 | AAB, AP, CO, INS, LIB, NEA, NW, SN, UP | CP, ID, NYS, PW, WC |
| Waddy Young | End | Oklahoma | 6/9 | AP, CO, INS, LIB, NEA, NW | CP, DT, ID, NYS, PW, WC |
| Bob MacLeod | Halfback | Dartmouth | 6/9 | AAB, CO, INS, LIB, NEA, NW | NYS, PW, WC |
| Alvord Wolff | Tackle | Santa Clara | 6/9 | AP, INS, NEA, NW, SN, UP | PW |
| Ki Aldrich | Center | TCU | 5/9 | AP, CO, NW, SN, UP | DT, NYS |
| Vic Bottari | Halfback | California | 4/9 | AAB, CO, NW, SN | CP, DT, ID, WC |
| Jerome H. Holland | End | Cornell | 3/9 | AP, NW, SN | ID |
| Bowden Wyatt | End | Tennessee | 2/9 | AAB, CO | NYS |
| Parker Hall | Halfback | Ole Miss | 2/9 | AP, UP | NYS |
| Ed Bock | Guard | Iowa State | 3/9 | AP, LIB, NEA | -- |
All-American selections for 1938
Ends
Jerome H. Holland, Cornell Bowden Wyatt, Tennessee Waddy Young, Oklahoma- Earl Brown, Notre Dame
- Bill Daddio, Pittsburgh
- John Wysocki, Villanova
- Howard Weiss, Wisconsin
- John Shirk, Oklahoma
- Sam Boyd, Baylor
Tackles
- Ed Beinor, Notre Dame ;
- Alvord Wolff, Santa Clara
- William McKeever, Cornell
- A. Sidney Roth, Cornell
- I. B. Hale, TCU
- Bo Russell, Auburn
- Bob Voigts, Northwestern
- Joe Delaney, Holy Cross
- Steve Maronic, North Carolina
- Eddie Gatto, LSU
- Joe Boyd, Texas A&M
Guards
- Ralph Heikkinen, Michigan
- Ed Bock, Iowa State
- Bob Suffridge, Tennessee
- Frank Twedell, Minnesota
- Harry Smith, USC
- Gus Zitrides, Dartmouth
- Matt Landry, Rice
- Vaughn Lloyd, BYU
Centers
- Ki Aldrich, TCU
- Dan Hill, Duke
- John Ryland, UCLA
- Charley Brock, Nebraska
Quarterbacks
- Davey O'Brien, TCU
- Sid Luckman, Columbia
- George Cafego, Tennessee
- Grenny Lansdell, USC
- Everett Kischer, Iowa State
Halfbacks
- Bob MacLeod, Dartmouth
- Vic Bottari, California
- Parker Hall, Ole Miss
- John Pingel, Michigan State
- Eric Tipton, Duke
- Billy Patterson, Baylor
- Merl Condit, Carnegie Tech
- Bill Osmanski, Holy Cross
- Hugh McCullough, Oklahoma
- Paul Christman, Missouri
- Warren Brunner, Tulane
- Paul Shu, VMI
- Howard Weiss, Wisconsin
Fullbacks
- Marshall Goldberg, Pittsburgh
- John McLaughry, Brown
Key
Bold = Consensus All-American- -1 – First-team selection
- -2 – Second-team selection
- -3 – Third-team selection
Official selections
- AAB = All-America Board
- AP = Associated Press
- CO = Collier's Weekly, selected by Grantland Rice
- INS = International News Service
- LIB = Liberty magazine
- NEA = NEA Sports Syndicate
- NW = Newsweek
- SN = Sporting News
- UP = United Press
Other selections
- CP = Central Press Association, selected by the captains of more than 50 football teams across the country
- DT = Detroit Times by J.R. Gnau
- ID = Irving Dix
- NYS = New York Sun
- WC = Walter Camp Football Foundation
- AR = Albert Richard
- PW = Paul Williamson