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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
Ken Margerum , Stanford (College Football Hall of Fame) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, NEA-1, WC)
Anthony Carter , Michigan (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP-1, NEA-2, TSN)
Cris Collinsworth , Florida (AP-2, UPI-2, NEA-1)
Mardye McDole , Mississippi State (NEA-2, TSN)
David Verser , Kansas (AP-2)
Bobby Stewart, Texas Christian (AP-3)
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
Mark May , Pittsburgh (College Football Hall of Fame) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, NEA-2 [guard], TSN, WC)
Keith Van Horne , USC (AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, NEA-1, TSN)
Nick Eyre , BYU (AFCA, AP-3, FWAA, UPI-2 [guard], NEA-1)
Bill Dugan , Penn St. (AFCA, AP-3)
Ken Lanier , Florida State (AP-2)
Curt Marsh , Washington (NEA-2)
Guards
Randy Schleusener , Nebraska (AP-1, UPI-1, NEA-1, WC)
Louis Oubre , Oklahoma (AFCA, AP-2 [tackle], FWAA, UPI-2 [tackle], NEA-2 [tackle], WC)
Ron Wooten , North Carolina (AP-3, UPI-2, NEA-1, WC)
Roy Foster , USC (UPI-1, NEA-2)
Frank Ditta, Baylor (AP-1)
Billy Ard , Wake Forest (TSN)
Terry Crouch , Oklahoma (TSN)
Sean Farrell , Penn State (AP-2)
Joe Lukens, Ohio State (AP-2)
Howard Richards , Missouri (UPI-2)
Frank McCallister, Navy (AP-3)
Centers
John Scully , Notre Dame (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, NEA-1, TSN)
George Lilja , Michigan (AP-3, UPI-2, NEA-2, WC)
Rick Donnalley , North Carolina (AP-2)
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
George Rogers , South Carolina (College Football Hall of Fame) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, NEA-1, TSN, WC)
Herschel Walker , Georgia (College Football Hall of Fame) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, NEA-1, TSN, WC)
Jarvis Redwine , Nebraska (AFCA, UPI-1, WC)
Freeman McNeil , UCLA (AP-2, FWAA, UPI-2, NEA-2)
James Brooks , Auburn (AP-2, NEA-2)
Walter Abercrombie , Baylor (AP-3)
Marcus Allen , USC (College and Pro Football Halls of Fame) (AP-3, UPI-2)
Dwayne Crutchfield , Iowa State (UPI-2)
Stump Mitchell , The Citadel (AP-3)
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
Leonard Mitchell , Houston (AFCA, AP-1, UPI-1, NEA-1, TSN, WC)
Kenneth Sims , Texas (AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, NEA-1, TSN)
Hosea Taylor , Houston (FWAA, WC)
Vince Goldsmith , Oregon (AP-2, UPI-2, NEA-2)
Mike Trgovac , Michigan (AP-2)
John Harty , Iowa (UPI-2, NEA-2)
Calvin Clark, Purdue (AP-3)
Elvin Keller, West Texas State (AP-3)
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
Mike Singletary , Baylor (College and Pro Football Halls of Fame) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, NEA-1, TSN, WC)
Lawrence Taylor , North Carolina (Pro Football Hall of Fame) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, NEA-2, TSN)
Bob Crable , Notre Dame (AFCA, AP-2, UPI-1, NEA-1, TSN, WC)
David Little , Florida (AP-1, FWAA, UPI-2, FN, NEA-2)
Tom Boyd , Alabama (AP-3, UPI-2, WC)
Marcus Marek , Ohio State (AP-3, UPI-2)
Andy Cannavino , Michigan (AP-2)
Reggie Herring , Florida State (AP-2)
Ricky Young, Oklahoma State (AP-2)
Chip Banks , USC (AP-3)
Defensive backs
Kenny Easley , UCLA (College and Pro Football Hall of Fame) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, NEA-1, TSN, WC)
Ronnie Lott , USC (College and Pro Football Halls of Fame) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, NEA-1, TSN, WC)
John Simmons , SMU (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-2)
Scott Woerner , Georgia (AFCA, AP-2, UPI-1, NEA-2, WC)
Bobby Butler , Florida State (AP-3, NEA-1)
Bill Whitaker , Missouri (NEA-1)
Ted Watts , Texas Tech (NEA-2, TSN)
Hanford Dixon , Southern Mississippi (TSN)
Tim Wilbur, Indiana (AP-2)
Tommy Wilcox , Alabama (AP-2)
Todd Bell , Ohio State (UPI-2, NEA-2)
Jeff Hipp, Georgia (UPI-2)
Jeff Griffin , Utah (NEA-2)
Vann McElroy , Baylor (AP-3)
Dennis Smith , USC (AP-3)
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
^
a
b
"Football Award Winners" (PDF) .
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. pp. 3, 12. Retrieved March 18, 2017 .
^
a
b
"Green, Easley All-American" . The Pantagraph . December 3, 1980. p. B3.
^
a
b 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 .
^
a
b
"1980 UPI A-A Team" . The Daily News (Huntingdon, PA) . December 5, 1980. p. 6.
^
a
b Murray Olderman (December 2, 1980).
"NEA's 1980 All-America football team" . The Daily News (Huntingdon, PA) . p. 5.
^
a
b
"Walter Camp Foundation All-American Teams" . Archived from
the original on March 30, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2009 .
^ John Nelson (September 3, 1989).
"1980 AP All-America Team--a Decade Later" . The New York Times .
Offense Defense Special teams