Football Writers Association of America


The Football Writers Association of America is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media outlets. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game.
The FWAA works to govern areas that include game day operations, and strives for better working conditions for sports writers in college football press boxes, and deals with access issues to college athletes and coaches. The FWAA also sponsors scholarships for aspiring writers and an annual writing contest.
The FWAA is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the NCAA. The organization also selects the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner, the Outland Trophy winner, a freshman All-America team, and weekly defensive player of the week, as well as developing scholarship programs and surveys for better working conditions. From 1954 to 2013, the association awarded the Grantland Rice Trophy to the college football team they chose to be the National Champion.

All-America Committees

The Football Writers Association of America All-America Committee selects the 25-man All-America Team and the winners of the Bronko Nagurski and Outland trophies. In the spring, the committee selects the FWAA All-America Watch List and the watch lists for both of the FWAA's major player awards. The FWAA has chosen an All-America Team annually since the 1944 season; it is the second longest continuously-published team in major college football.

2009 Committee

2008 Committee

2007 Committee

2006 Committee

Bert McGrane Award winners

Presented to a member of the FWAA for "outstanding contribution to the organization".
1974 Charley Johnson, Minneapolis Star

1975 Wilfrid Smith, Chicago Tribune

1976 Paul Zimmerman, Los Angeles Times

1977 Dick Cullum, Minneapolis Tribune

1978 Wilbur Evans, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association

1979 Tom Siler, Knoxville News-Sentinel

1980 Maury White, Des Moines Register

1981 Fred Russell, Nashville Banner

1982 Furman Bisher, Atlanta Journal

1983 John Mooney, Salt Lake Tribune

1984 Si Burick, Dayton News

1985 Blackie Sherrod, The Dallas Morning News

1986 Raymond Johnson, Nashville Tennessean

1987 Tim Cohane, Look Magazine

1988 Dave Campbell, Waco Tribune Herald

1989 Jim Brock, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association

1990 Jack Hairston, Gainesville Sun

1991 Murray Olderman, Newspaper Enterprise Association

1992 Volney Meece, The Daily Oklahoman

1993 Bob Hentzen, Topeka Capital Journal

1994 Edgar Allen, Nashville Journal

1995 Dick Herbert, Raleigh News & Observer

1996 Bob Hammel, Bloomington Herald-Times

1997 Bill Lumpkin, Birmingham Post-Herald

1998 Don Bryant, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

1999 Field Scovell, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association

2000 Jimmie McDowell, All-American Football Foundation

2001 Edwin Pope, Miami Herald

2002 Orville Henry, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

2003 Dan Foster, Greenville News

2004 Pat Harmon, Cincinnati Post

2005 Steve Richardson, FWAA Executive Director

2006 John Junker, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl

2007 Mark Blaudschun, Boston Globe

2008 Claude Felton, University of Georgia

2009 Tony Barnhart, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

2010 Tom Mickle, Florida Citrus Sports

2011 Beano Cook, ESPN/University of Pittsburgh

2012 Dave Sittler, Tulsa World

2013 Dick Weiss, New York Daily News

2014 Tim Tessalone, University of Southern California

2015 Steve Hatchell, National Football Foundation

2016 Ivan Maisel, ESPN.com

2017 Charlie Fiss, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association

2018 Steve Wieberg, USA Today

2019 Blair Kerkhoff, The Kansas City Star

2020 Wally Hall, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

2021 John Heisler, University of Notre Dame

2022 Dennis Dodd, CBS Sports

2023 Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times

2024 Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman

All-Time Teams

Selected by the Football Writers Association of America for the centennial year of college football in 1969. An Early Era team was chosen that featured Jim Thorpe, a modern team and a Quarter-Century team that was chosen in 1993, 25 years after the college football centennial celebration.

1969–1994 All-America Team

Offense

C – Dave Rimington, Nebraska

G – John Hannah, Alabama

G – Dean Steinkuhler, Nebraska

T – Bill Fralic, Pittsburgh

T – Jerry Sisemore, Texas

TE – Keith Jackson, Oklahoma

WR – Anthony Carter, Michigan

WR – Jerry Rice, Mississippi Valley

QB – John Elway, Stanford

RB – Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh

RB – Herschel Walker, University of Georgia

K – Tony Franklin, Texas A&M University

KR – Johnny Rodgers, Nebraska

Defense

DE – Lee Roy Selmon, Oklahoma

DE – Jack Youngblood, Florida

DT – Steve Emtman, Washington

DT – Randy White, Maryland

LB – Hugh Green, Pittsburgh

LB – Lawrence Taylor, North Carolina

MLB – Mike Singletary, Baylor

DB – Deion Sanders, Florida State

DB – Ronnie Lott, Southern California

DB – Jack Tatum, Ohio State

DB – Kenny Easley, UCLA

P – Ray Guy – Southern Mississippi

1919–1968 Modern Era All-America Team

E – Bennie Oosterbaan, Michigan

E – Don Hutson, Alabama

L – Bronko Nagurski, Minnesota

L – Bruiser Kinard, Mississippi

L – Jim Parker, Ohio State

L – Bob Suffridge, Tennessee

C – Mel Hein, Washington State

B – Sammy Baugh, Texas Christian

B – Jay Berwanger, Chicago

B – Ernie Nevers, Stanford

B – Red Grange, Illinois

1869–1918 Early Era All-America Team

E – Frank Hinkey, Yale

E – Huntington Hardwick, Harvard

T – Josh Cody, Vanderbilt

T – Wilbur Henry, Washington and Jefferson

G – Pudge Heffelfinger, Yale

G – Truxtun Hare, Pennsylvania

C – Germany Schulz, Michigan

B – Jim Thorpe, Carlisle

B – Elmer Oliphant, Purdue

B – Willie Heston, Michigan

B – Walter Eckersall, Chicago

75th Anniversary All-America Team

To celebrate the 75th Anniversary of their formation in 2015, the Football Writers Association of America selected a 75th Anniversary All-America Team.

First Team

Offense

QB – Roger Staubach, Navy

RB – Archie Griffin, Ohio State

RB – Herschel Walker, Georgia

WR – Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh

WR – Jerry Rice, Mississippi Valley State

TE – Keith Jackson, Oklahoma

OL – John Hannah, Alabama

OL – Orlando Pace, Ohio State

OL – Will Shields, Nebraska

OL – Ron Yary, USC

C – Dave Rimington, Nebraska

Defense

DT – Lee Roy Selmon, Oklahoma

DT – Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska

DE – Leon Hart, Notre Dame

DE – Ted Hendricks, Miami

LB – Tommy Nobis, Texas

LB – Mike Singletary, Baylor

LB – Derrick Thomas, Alabama

DB – Ronnie Lott, USC

DB – Deion Sanders, Florida State

DB – Jack Tatum, Ohio State

DB – Charles Woodson, Michigan

Specialists

P – Ray Guy, Southern Miss

K – Kevin Butler, Georgia

RS – Johnny Rodgers, Nebraska

Second Team

Offense

QB – Tim Tebow, Florida

RB – Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh

RB – Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State

WR – Fred Biletnikoff, Florida State

WR – Randy Moss, Marshall

TE – Mike Ditka, Pittsburgh

OL – Bill Fralic, Pittsburgh

OL – John Hicks, Ohio State

OL – Calvin Jones, Iowa

OL – Jonathan Ogden, UCLA

C – Chuck Bednarik, Penn

Defense

DT – Merlin Olsen, Utah State

DT – Randy White, Maryland

DE – Hugh Green, Pittsburgh

DE – Bruce Smith, Virginia Tech

LB – Brian Bosworth, Oklahoma

LB – Dick Butkus, Illinois

LB – Luke Kuechly, Boston College

DB – Champ Bailey, Georgia

DB – Kenny Easley, UCLA

DB – Jerry Gray, Texas

DB – Ed Reed, Miami

Specialists

P – Russell Erxleben, Texas

K – Mason Crosby, Colorado

RS – Raghib Ismail, Notre Dame

Third Team

Offense

QB – Tommie Frazier, Nebraska

RB – Bo Jackson, Auburn

RB – Doak Walker, SMU

WR – Anthony Carter, Michigan

WR – Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech

TE – Gordon Hudson, BYU

OL – Barrett Jones, Alabama

OL – Willie Roaf, Louisiana Tech

OL – Jerry Sisemore, Texas

OL – Dean Steinkuhler, Nebraska

C – Jim Ritcher, N.C. State

Defense

DT – Steve Emtman, Washington

DT – Reggie White, Tennessee

DE – Bubba Smith, Michigan State

DE – Jack Youngblood, Florida

LB – Jack Ham, Penn State

LB – Lee Roy Jordan, Alabama

LB – Chris Spielman, Ohio State

DB – Dré Bly, North Carolina

DB – Dave Brown, Michigan

DB – Troy Polamalu, USC

DB – Roy Williams, Oklahoma

Specialists

P – Rohn Stark, Florida State

K – Tony Franklin, Texas A&M

RS – Derek Abney, Kentucky

Awards sponsored

Currently the FWAA sponsors seven awards and those are affiliated with the National College Football Awards Association.

Poll

Beginning in 2014, 26 members of the FWAA will vote in a new poll in partnership with the National Football Foundation. It is called the FWAA-NFF Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll.