1915 College Football All-America Team Explained

The 1915 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans for the 1915 college football season. The only selectors for the 1915 season who have been recognized as "official" by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) are Walter Camp, whose selections were published in Collier's Weekly, and the International News Service (INS), a newswire founded by William Randolph Hearst.

Although not recognized by the NCAA, many other sports writers, newspapers, and coaches selected All-America teams in 1915. They include Parke H. Davis, Walter Eckersall, and Fielding H. Yost.

All-Americans of 1915

Ends

Murray Shelton, Cornell (College Football Hall of Fame) (WC-1; FM-2; MON-2; PD-1; TC-1; DR; ER)
Guy Chamberlin, Nebraska (College and Pro Football Hall of Fame) (WE-1; FM-1; PD-1)
Bert Baston, Minnesota (College and Pro Football Hall of Fame) (WC-1; WE-2)
Bob Higgins, Penn State (College Football Hall of Fame) (WC-2; WE-2; FM-1; FY-1; MON-1; TC-1; JI)
Jack "Red" Lamberton, Princeton (WE-1; FY-1)
Fred Heyman, Washington & Jefferson (WC-3; MON-1)
George Squier, Illinois (WC-3; FM-2)
Ernest William Soucy, Harvard (MON-2; DR; ER; JI)
James P. Herron, Pittsburgh (WC-2)

Tackles

Howard "Cub" Buck, Wisconsin (WC-2; WE-1; FM-1; FY-1; PD-1; TC-1)
Joseph Gilman, Harvard (WC-1; WE-1; FY-1; MON-2; TC-1; DR; ER; JI)
Earl Abell, Colgate (College Football Hall of Fame) (WC-1; WE-2; FM-2; MON-1)
Maurice M. Witherspoon, W&J (FM-1)
Mark Farnum, Brown (MON-1; ER)
Laurens Shull, Chicago (died in WWI) (FM-2)
Alex Weyand, Army (College Football Hall of Fame) (WC-3; MON-2)
William T. Van de Graaff, Alabama (WC-2; PD-1)
Nelson "Pie" Way, Yale (DR; JI)
John B. McAuliffe, Dartmouth (WE-2)
Josh Cody, Vanderbilt (WC-3)

Guards

Clarence Spears, Dartmouth (College Football Hall of Fame) (WC-1; WE-1; FM-1; FY-1; MON-1; PD-1; TC-1; DR; ER)
Harold White, Syracuse (WE-2; FM-1; MON-2; TC-1; JI)
Chris Schlachter, Syracuse (WC-1; WE-2; FY-1; ER)
Clinton Black, Yale (WC-2; MON-1; DR)
Freeman Fitzgerald, Notre Dame (FM-2; PD-1)
Pat Dunnigan, Minnesota (WE-1; FM-2)
Budge Garrett, Rutgers (MON-2)
Frank T. Hogg, Princeton (WC-2; JI)
Harrie Holland Dadmun, Harvard (WC-3)
Baby Taylor, Auburn (WC-3)

Centers

Bob Peck, Pittsburgh (College Football Hall of Fame) (WC-1; FM-1; MON-1; PD-1; TC-1; JI)
Gib Cool, Cornell (WC-2; WE-1; FM-2; FY-1; ER)
John McEwan, Army (WC-3; MON-2; DR)
John Wesley "Jack" Watson, Illinois (WE-2)

Quarterbacks

Charley Barrett, Cornell (College Football Hall of Fame) (WC-1; WE-1; FM-1; FY-1; MON-1; PD-1; TC-1; DR; ER; JI [hb])
Guy Williamson, Pittsburgh (JI)
Donald Clarke Watson, Harvard (WC-2)
Pete Russell, Chicago (WC-3; WE-2; FM-2)
Miller, Columbia (MON-2)

Halfbacks

Richard King, Harvard (WC-1; WE-2; FY-1)
Bart Macomber, Illinois (College Football Hall of Fame) (WC-1)
Elmer Oliphant, Army (WC-1;^[1] MON-1; DR)
Eugene Mayer, Virginia (FM-1; PD-1)
Bernie Bierman, Minnesota (College Football Hall of Fame) (WE-1; FM-2 [fb])
Neno DaPrato, Michigan State (FM-1)
Dave Tibbott, Princeton (WC-2; WE-1; FY-1)
Red Wilkinson, Syracuse (WE-2 [fb]; MON-1; ER)
Fritz Shiverick, Cornell (DR)
R. B. "Dick" Rutherford, Nebraska (FM-2)
Andy Hastings, Pittsburgh (FM-2)
John Maulbetsch, Michigan (College Football Hall of Fame) (WE-2; MON-2; TC-1)
Johnny Gilroy, Georgetown (MON-2)
Anderson, Colgate (TC-1)
Herman Abraham, Oregon State (WC-3)

Fullbacks

Eddie Mahan, Harvard (College Football Hall of Fame) (WC-1; WE-1; FM-1; FY-1; MON-1; PD-1 [hb]; TC-1; DR; ER; JI)
Edward H. Driggs, Princeton (PD-1)
Howard Parker Talman, Rutgers (WC-2; MON-2)
Punk Berryman, Penn State (WC-3; ER [hb]; JI [hb])

Key

NCAA recognized selectors for 1915

WC = Collier's Weekly as selected by Walter Camp
FM = Frank G. Menke, Sporting Editor of the International News Service^[2]

Other selectors

WE = Walter Eckersall, of the Chicago Tribune^[3]
FY = Fielding Yost, coach of the University of Michigan^[4]
MON = Monty, New York sports writer Monty^[5]
PD = Parke H. Davis^[6]
TC = Tommy Clark^[7]
DR = Damon Runyon. At the end of the 1915 season, Runyon noted the difficulty in picking an All-America team when most of those doing so had only seen a fraction of the players. Accordingly, Runyon chose not to call his list and All-America team, instead calling it his All-"Guys-We've-Seen" team.^[8]
ER = Eddie N. Robinson, head coach of the Brown Bears football team.^[9]
JI = Jonas H. Ingram, head coach of the Navy football team.^[10]

Bold = Consensus All-American^[11]

1 – First-team selection
2 – Second-team selection
3 – Third-team selection

Notes and References

News: Camp Changes His All-America Team. Hamilton Daily Republican-News. 1915-12-30. (When Camp announced his team in mid-December, he placed Macomber on the first team and Oliphant on the second team. However, at the end of December 1915, Camp announced he was changing his selection to place Oliphant on the first team and Macomber on the second team.)
News: Covers Wide Scope In Choosing His All-American Gridironers. The Washington Post. 1915-12-05.
News: Eck Puts Him On All-American. La Crosse Tribune. 1915-12-06.
News: Fielding H. Yost. All-American Team of 1915 Strong and Brilliant In Any Style of Offensive Play. Fort Wayne News. 1915-12-04.
News: Monty Picks All-Star Team: Maulbetsch of Michigan Lands on Second Eleven; He is Only 'Westerner' to Be Honored by the Writer. Fort Wayne News. 1915-12-04.
News: Buck Mayer and Vandegraaaff Are Chosen for All-American. The Charlotte News. December 5, 1915. 10.
News: The All American Eleven for Season of 1915 . Tommy . Clark . Passaic Daily Herald . . 3 . December 2, 1915 . June 27, 2023 . newspapers.com.
News: Runyon Picks Oliphant and McEwan: Names Army Players on His "All" Team. Damon Runyon. El Paso Herald. December 3, 1915. 10.
News: "Robbie" Picks an All-America Eleven. Herbert. The New York Tribune. November 24, 1915. 14.
News: Navy Coach Picks All-America Team. The New York Tribune. December 1, 1915. 12.
Web site: Football Award Winners. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. October 21, 2017. 6.