1943 College Football All-America Team Explained

The 1943 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 1943. The eight selectors recognized by the NCAA as "official" for the 1943 season are (1) Collier's Weekly, as selected by Grantland Rice, (2) the Associated Press, (3) the United Press, (4) the All-America Board, (5) Football News, (6) the International News Service (INS), (7) Look magazine, and (8) the Sporting News.

Consensus All-Americans

For the year 1943, the NCAA recognizes eight 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 selectors	Other selectors
Cas Myslinski		Army	8/8	AAB, AP, CO, FN, INS, LK, SN, UP	CP, SS
Bill Daley	Halfback	Michigan	8/8	AAB, AP, CO, FN, INS, LK, SN, UP	CP, NYS, SS
Creighton Miller	Halfback	Notre Dame	7/8	AAB, AP, CO, FN, INS, SN, UP	--
Angelo Bertelli	Quarterback	Notre Dame	7/8	AAB, CO, FN, INS, LK, SN, UP	CP, NYS, SS
Ralph Heywood			6/8	AAB, AP, FN, INS, LK, UP	CP, SS
Jim White		Notre Dame	6/8	AAB, AP, CO, INS, SN, UP	CP
Alex Agase		Purdue	6/8	AAB, FN, INS, LK, SN, UP	CP
Bob Odell	Halfback	Penn	5/8	AP, CO, INS, LK, NYS	--
Don Whitmire	Tackle	Navy	4/8	AAB, INS, LK, UP	CP
Merv Pregulman^[1]	Tackle	Michigan	4/8	CO, FN, LK, SN	SS
Pat Filley	Guard	Notre Dame	4/8	CO, FN, SN, UP	--
John Yonakor	End		3/8	INS, SN, UP	CP

All-American selections for 1943

Ends

Ralph Heywood, USC (AAB; AP-1; FN; INS-1; LK; UP-1; CP-1; SS-1)
John Yonakor, Notre Dame (AAB; UP-1; INS-1; SN; CP-1)
Pete Pihos, Indiana (College and Pro Football Hall of Fame) (AAB; AP-3; SN; UP-2; CO-1; NYS-1)
Albert Channell, Navy (AP-3; FN; LK)
John Monahan, Dartmouth (AP-2; NYS-1)
Roe Johnston, Navy (SS-1)
Herb Hein, Northwestern (CO-1)
Joe Parker, Texas (AP-1)
Robert Hall, Colorado College (AP-2)
Bob Gantt, Duke (UP-2)

Tackles

Don Whitmire, Navy (College Football Hall of Fame) (AAB; INS-1; LK; UP-1; CP-1)
Jim White, Notre Dame (AAB; AP-1; CO-1; INS-1; SN; UP-1; CP-1)
Merv Pregulman, Michigan (AP-3; CO-1 [g]; FN; LK; SN; UP-2; SS-1)
Art McCaffray, College of the Pacific (UP-2; CO-1; NYS-1)
George Connor, Holy Cross (AP-2; NYS-1)
Ralph Calcagni, Cornell (SS-1)
Pat Preston, Duke (AP-1)
Francis Merritt, Army (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP-2; FN)
Solon Burnett, Southwestern (Texas) (AP-3)

Guards

Alex Agase, Purdue (College Football Hall of Fame) (AAB; AP-3; FN; INS-1; LK; SN; UP-1; CP-1)
Pat Filley, Notre Dame (AP-2; CO-1; FN; SN; UP-1)
John Steber, Georgia Tech. (AAB; AP-1 [tackle]; UP-2; INS-1; NYS-1)
Bill Milner, Duke (SS-1; CP-1)
Harold Fisher, Southwestern (LK)
Bill Milner, Duke (NYS-1)
Don Alvarez, Dartmouth (SS-1)
George Brown, Navy (AP-1)
John Jaffurs, Penn State (AP-2; UP-2)
Richard Ward, Washington (AP-3)

Centers

Cas Myslinski, Army (AAB; AP-1; CO-1; FN; INS-1; LK; SN; UP-1; CP-1; SS-1)
Jack Martin, Navy (NYS-1)
Bill Gray, USC (AP-2)
Herbert Coleman, Notre Dame (UP-2)
Lester Gatewood, Tulane (AP-3)

Quarterbacks

Angelo Bertelli, Notre Dame (College Football Hall of Fame) (AAB; AP-2; CO-1; FN; INS-1; LK; SN; UP-1; CP-1; NYS-1; SS-1)
Otto Graham, Northwestern (AAB [hb]; AP-1; FN; UP-2; CP-1)

Halfbacks

Bill Daley, Michigan (AAB [fb]; AP-1; CO-1 [fb]; FN; INS-1; LK; SN; UP-1; CP-1; NYS-1; SS-1)
Bob Odell, Penn (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP-1; UP-2; CO-1; INS-1; LK; NYS-1)
Creighton Miller, Notre Dame (College Football Hall of Fame) (AAB; AP-1; CO-1; FN; INS-1; SN; UP-1)
Eddie Prokop, Georgia Tech (AP-2; UP-2)
Alvin Dark, Southwestern Louisiana (AP-2)
Harold Hamburg, Navy (UP-2)
Steve Van Buren, LSU (AP-3)
Robert Hoernschemeyer, Indiana (AP-3)
Bob Steuber, DePauw (AP-3)

Fullbacks

John Podesto, College of the Pacific (AP-3; LK; SS-1 [halfback]; NYS-1)
Tony Butkovich, Purdue (killed on Okinawa, World War II) (AP-2; SN; UP-1; CP-1; SS-1)

Key

Bold = Consensus All-American^[2]

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

Official selectors

AAB = All-America Board^[3]
AP = Associated Press^[4]
CO = Collier's Weekly, selected by Grantland Rice^[5]
FN = Football News^[3]
INS = International News Service^[3]
LK = NBC radio and Look magazine, selected under the supervision of Bill Stern, by 138 sports announcers and 25 key sports writers^[3]
SN = Sporting News, selected through a poll of 86 sports writers in 40 states^[3]
UP = United Press^[6]

Other selectors

CP = Central Press Association, selected with the assistance of the nation's football captains
MS = Maxwell Stiles, noted California sports writer, based on the number of weeks a player was named player of the week at his position
NYS = New York Sun^[7]
SS = Stars and Stripes, selected by the sports writers for the Army publication^[8]
WC = Walter Camp Football Foundation^[9]

Notes and References

Tackles Don Whitmire and Merv Pregulman each received four of eight official first-team selections. Whitmire is recognized by the NCAA as a consensus All-American; Pregulman is not.
Web site: Football Award Winners. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. October 21, 2017. 8.
Book: ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. 1192. ESPN Books. 2005. 1401337031.
News: Miller and White of Notre Dame Gain All-America Football Posts. The New York Times. December 8, 1943.
News: Collier's Selects 1943 All-Stars. The Bend Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). December 10, 1943.
News: 5 Notre Dame Men Make All-America. December 4, 1943. The New York Times.
News: 4 Eastern Players on Sun's Grid Team. Nashua Telegraph. Nashua, NH. December 4, 1943.
News: Stars and Stripes Picks All-America From Afar. The New York Times. December 5, 1943.
Web site: Walter Camp Football Foundation All-American Selections . Walter Camp Football Foundation . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071218214203/http://waltercamp.org/index.php/teams_and_awards/ . 2007-12-18 .