1927 College Football All-America Team Explained

The 1927 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1927. The seven selectors recognized by the NCAA as "official" for the 1927 season are (1) Collier's Weekly, as selected by Grantland Rice with cooperation from ten coaches, (2) the Associated Press, (3) the United Press, selected based on consensus among UP newspapers throughout the country and prominent football coaches, (4) the All-America Board, (5) the International News Service (INS), (6) the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), and (7) the North American Newspaper Alliance (NANA).

Consensus All-Americans

Following the death of Walter Camp in 1925, there was a proliferation of All-American teams in the late 1920s. For the year 1927, the NCAA recognizes seven 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. Michigan end Bennie Oosterbaan and Pittsburgh halfback Gibby Welch were the only players to be unanimously selected by all seven selectors as first-team All-Americans.

Name	Position	School	Number	Selectors
Bennie Oosterbaan	End	Michigan	7/7	AAB, AP, CO, INS, NANA, NEA, UP
Gibby Welch	Halfback	Pitt	7/7	AAB, AP, CO, INS, NANA, NEA, UP
Morley Drury	Quarterback	USC	6/7	AAB, AP, CO, INS, NEA, UP
Clipper Smith	Guard	Notre Dame	6/7	AAB, AP, CO, INS, NEA, UP
Herb Joesting	Fullback	Minnesota	6/7	AAB, AP, CO, INS, NEA, UP
Bill Webster	Guard	Yale	5/7	AAB, AP, INS, NANA, NEA
Tom Nash	End	Georgia	4/7	AAB, CO, INS, NANA
Jesse Hibbs	Tackle	USC	4/7	AAB, INS, NANA, UP
Ed Hake	Tackle	Penn	3/7	AP, NANA, UP
Larry Bettencourt	Center	St. Mary's	3/7	AAB, AP, INS
John Charlesworth	Center	Yale	3/7	CO, NEA, UP
Red Cagle	Halfback	Army	3/7	AAB, CO, NANA

All-American selections for 1927

Ends

• Bennie Oosterbaan, Michigan (CFHOF) (AAB; AP-1; UP-1; COL-1; INS-1; NEA; NANA; CP-1; CEP-1; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-1; LP-1; WE-1)
• Tom Nash, Georgia (AAB; AP-3; UP-3; COL-1; INS-1; NANA; CEP-3; HE-1; BE-3; LP-1; WE-1)
• Ivey Shiver, Georgia (AP-1; UP-1; NEA; CP-2; HE-2; INS-3; NYS-1; BE-1; LP-2)
• Dwight Fishwick, Yale (CP-1; WE-3)
• George Cole, Dartmouth (AP-2; CEP-3; HE-3; INS-2)
• Rags Matthews, TCU (CFHOF) (AP-2; INS-2; NYS-2; BE-3)
• Irvine Phillips, California (AP-3; CP-2)
• Stewart Scott, Yale (UP-2; BE-2)
• Charles Born, Army (UP-2; CEP-1; HE-2; INS-3; NYS-2; BE-2)
• Charlie Moeser, Princeton (HE-3; LP-2; WE-2)
• Matthews, SMU (CEP-2)
• Lou Jennings, Centenary (CEP-2)
• Joe Donchess, Pittsburgh (CFHOF) (WE-2)
• Charles Walsh, Notre Dame (UP-3)
• Ted Fleck, Kansas Aggies (WE-3)

Tackles

• Jesse Hibbs, USC (AAB; AP-2; UP-1; INS-1; NANA; CP-1; CEP-2; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-2; LP-1; WE-1)
• Ed Hake, Penn (AP-1; UP-1; NANA; CP-2; CEP-3; HE-2; BE-3)
• Bud Sprague, Army (CFHOF) (AP-1; UP-2; INS-1; CP-1; HE-1)
• Bill Kern, Pittsburgh (INS-2; NEA; HE-2; NYS-2; BE-1)
• John Smith, Penn (AP-2; COL-1; LP-2; INS-3; WE-2)
• Leo Raskowski, Ohio State (AP-3; COL-1; NEA; HE-3; BE-1; CEP-1; LP-1; WE-1)
• Fred Pickhard, Alabama (UP-2; CP-2)
• Leo Nowack, Illinois (AP-3)
• George Perry, Army (LP-2; NYS-1; BE-2)
• Jap Douds, Washington & Jefferson (BE-3; CEP-1; HE-3; INS-2)
• Sidney Quarrier, Yale (AAB; UP-3; CEP-2; WE-2)
• James J. Fitzgerald, Tufts (UP-3)
• Alton C. Sprott, Texas A&M (INS-3; NYS-2; BE-3 [g])
• Roy Randells, Nebraska (CEP-3)
• Fritz Coultrin, California (WE-3)
• Francis E. Lucas, Missouri (WE-3)

Guards

• Bill Webster, Yale (AAB; AP-1; UP-2; INS-1; NEA; NANA; CP-1; CEP-1; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-1; LP-1; WE-1)
• John "Clipper" Smith, Notre Dame (CFHOF) (AAB; AP-1; UP-1; COL-1; INS-1; NEA; CP-1; CEP-2; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-1; WE-1)
• Russ Crane, Illinois (COL-1; LP-2)
• Ray Baer, Michigan (AP-2; UP-2; CP-2; HE-2; INS-2; BE-2; WE-2)
• John Barnhill, Tennessee (AP-2)
• Hal Hanson, Minnesota (AP-3; UP-1; NANA; CP-2; CEP-1; HE-2; INS-3; NYS-2; BE-2; LP-1; WE-3)
• Gene Smith, Georgia (AP-3)
• William Wright, Washington (INS-2; NYS-2; BE-3; LP-2)
• John Roberts, Pittsburgh (WE-2)
• Justin Whitlock Dart, Northwestern (UP-3)
• R. Van I. Miller, Amherst (UP-3)
• Danny McMullen, Nebraska (INS-3)
• J. M. French, Princeton (HE-3)
• Seraphim Post, Stanford (HE-3)
• Raleigh Drennon, Georgia Tech (CEP-2; WE-3)
• Robert N. Miller, Missouri (CEP-3)
• E. G. Blake, Princeton (CEP-3)

Centers

• Larry Bettencourt, St. Mary's (CFHOF) (AAB; AP-1; INS-1; CP-2; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-2; LP-2; WE-1)
• John Charlesworth, Yale (UP-1; COL-1; NEA; CP-1; HE-2; BE-1)
• Claude Grigsby, Georgetown (AP-2; HE-3)
• Ken Rouse, Chicago (AP-3; UP-3; WE-2)
• Robert Reitsch, Illinois (NANA; CEP-2; INS-3; NYS-2; BE-3; LP-1; WE-3)
• Charles Howe, Princeton (CEP-1)
• John McCreery, Stanford (UP-2)
• Elvin Butcher, Tennessee (CEP-3; INS-2)

Quarterbacks

• Morley Drury, USC (CFHOF) (AAB; AP-1 [hb]; UP-1; COL-1; INS-1 [hb]; NEA; CP-1; CEP-1; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-1; LP-1; WE-1)
• Bill Spears, Vanderbilt (CFHOF) (AP-1; UP-2; INS-1; NANA; CP-2; CEP-2; HE-3; LP-2; WE-2)
• Harold Almquist, Minnesota (AP-3)
• Jack Connor, NYU (HE-2; INS-2; NYS-2; BE-2; LP-2)
• Gerald Mann, SMU (CFHOF) (BE-3)
• Frederick M. Ellis, Tufts (CEP-3)
• Dominic E. Engbarth, Texas

Halfbacks

• Gibby Welch, Pittsburgh (AAB; AP-1; UP-1; COL-1; INS-1; NEA; NANA; CP-1; CEP-1; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-1; LP-1; WE-1)
• Red Cagle, Army (CFHOF) (AAB; AP-3; UP-3; COL-1; NANA; CEP-3; HE-2; WE-1)
• Christie Flanagan, Notre Dame (UP-1; NEA; CP-1; HE-3; INS-3; BE-1)
• Alton Marsters, Dartmouth (AP-2; UP-2; HE-3; INS-2; NYS-2; BE-2; CEP-1; LP-2; WE-2)
• Glenn Presnell, Nebraska (AP-2; UP-2; HE-2; INS-2; NYS-2; BE-2; CEP-2; LP-1; WE-2)
• Joel Hunt, Texas A&M (CFHOF) (AP-2 [qb]; INS-3 [qb]; BE-3; CEP-2; LP-2; WE-3 [qb])
• Chuck Carroll, Washington (CFHOF) (AP-3)
• Louis Gilbert, Michigan (UP-3 [qb]; CP-2; BE-3; WE-3)
• Walter "Swede" Gebert, Marquette (UP-3; INS-3; LP-2)
• Bruce Caldwell, Yale (CP-2; HE-1; NYS-1; LP-2)
• Bob Nork, Georgetown (CEP-3)
• Johnny Roepke, Penn State (WE-3)

Fullbacks

• Herb Joesting, Minnesota (CFHOF) (AAB; AP-1; UP-1; COL-1; INS-1; NEA; CP-1; CEP-3; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-1; LP-1; WE-1)
• Herdis McCrary, Georgia (AP-2; UP-2; CEP-1; HE-3; INS-2; WE-2)
• Bill Amos, Washington & Jefferson (AP-3; CEP-2; HE-2; BE-3)
• Mike Miles, Princeton (NANA; NYS-2; BE-2; WE-3)
• Pat Wilson, Washington (LP-2)
• Biff Hoffman, Stanford (INS-3; LP-2)
• Lou Tesreau, Washington (UP-3)
• Frank Briante, NYU (CP-2)

Key

• Bold – Consensus All-American^[1]
• -1 – First-team selection
• -2 – Second-team selection
• -3 – Third-team selection
• CFHOF – College Football Hall of Fame

Official selectors

• AAB = All America Board^[2]
• AP = Associated Press^[3]
• COL = Collier's Weekly as selected by Grantland Rice with assistance from well-known coaches, including Glenn Warner, Robert Zuppke, Knute Rockne and Dan McGugin^{[4] [5]}
• INS = International News Service selected by Davis Walsh, INS sports editor^[6]
• NEA = Newspaper Enterprise Association
• NANA = North American Newspaper Alliance
• UP = United Press, selected based on consensus among UP newspapers throughout the country and prominent football coaches^[7]

Other selectors

• BE = Billy Evans with the assistance of "100 of the leading football experts of the country"^[8]
• CP = Central Press Association, billed as the "Real" All-American team with selections based on fan input with cooperation from "hundreds of newspapers throughout the country"^[9]
• CEP = Charles E. Parker for the New York Evening Telegram^[10]
• HE = Hearst newspapers, consensus selection of more than 100 sports writers and editors at the Hearst newspapers^[11]
• LP = Lawrence Perry^[12]
• NYS = New York Sun "based on a canvas of 129 college teams throughout the country by the Sun's representatives" with gold watches being given to the members of the first eleven^[13]
• WC = Walter Camp Football Foundation^[14]
• WE = Walter Eckersall^[15]

See also

• 1927 All-Big Ten Conference football team
• 1927 All-Missouri Valley Conference football team
• 1927 All-Pacific Coast Conference football team
• 1927 All-Southern football team
• 1927 All-Western college football team

Notes and References

1. Web site: Football Award Winners. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. October 21, 2017. 6.
2. News: Christy Walsh. All-America Board Honors Capt. Bob Smith of Colgate. Syracuse Herald. December 11, 1932.
3. News: Associated Press Team. Democrat and Chronicle. December 11, 1927. 17. Newspapers.com. October 8, 2016.
4. News: Grantland Rice's All-American Grid Team Announced. The Scranton Republican. December 2, 1927. 17. Newspapers.com. October 8, 2016.
5. News: 6 Westerners On Grantland Rice All-Stars. Woodland Daily Democrat. December 2, 1927.
6. News: All Sections Are Represented in Walsh's All-America Team for 1927. St. Louis Star. November 29, 1927. 19. Newspapers.com. October 8, 2016.
7. News: Frank Getty. Welch Picked on United Press All-America Team. The Pittsburgh Press. November 25, 1927. 51. Newspapers.com. October 8, 2016.
8. News: Billy Evans. Billy Evans' All-America. The Enquirer and Evening News. December 1, 1927. 14. Newspapers.com. October 8, 2016.
9. News: Norman E. Brown. Fans Choose All-American Grid Team in Extensive Newspaper Poll. Statesman Journal. Salem, OR. December 10, 1927. 6.
10. News: Gibby Welch Named Again On Star Team. The Pittsburgh Press. December 4, 1927. 18. Newspapers.com. October 8, 2016.
11. News: How About These For All-American Elevens?. San Antonio Light. December 4, 1927.
12. News: Lawrence Perry. Famous Sports Writer Sees Twenty-Nine Teams In Action. Harrisburg (PA) Telegraph. December 10, 1927. 13. Newspapers.com. October 8, 2016.
13. News: New York Sun Selects Team. The Decatur (IL) Revie. Decatur, IL. November 26, 1927. 4. Newspapers.com. October 9, 2016.
14. Web site: Walter Camp Football Foundation . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090330065940/http://waltercamp.org/index.php/teams_and_awards . 2009-03-30 .
15. News: Three Big Ten Players Are Retained By Eckersall On All-America Eleven. Detroit Free Press. December 11, 1927. 19. Newspapers.com. October 8, 2016.