1961 College Football All-America Team

The 1961 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 1961. The six selectors recognized by the NCAA as "official" for the 1961 season are (1) the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), (2) the Associated Press (AP), (3) the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), (4) the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), (5) the Sporting News , and (6) the United Press International (UPI).

Consensus All-Americans

For the year 1961, the NCAA recognizes six 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	Other
Roy Winston	Guard	LSU	6/6	AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI	CP, Time, WC
Ernie Davis	Halfback	Syracuse	6/6	AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI	CP, Time, WC
Bob Ferguson	Fullback	Ohio State	6/6	AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI	CP, Time, WC
Billy Neighbors	Tackle	Alabama	6/6	AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI	CP, WC
Jimmy Saxton	Halfback	Texas	6/6	AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI	CP, WC
Gary Collins	End	Maryland	5/6	AFCA, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI	CP, Time, WC
Joe Romig	Guard	Colorado	5/6	AFCA, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI	WC
Alex Kroll	Center	Rutgers	5/6	AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, UPI	WC
Sandy Stephens	Quarterback	Minnesota	5/6	AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI	WC
Bill Miller	End	Miami (Fla.)	4/6	AP, FWAA, NEA, SN	Time, WC
Merlin Olsen	Tackle	Utah State	4/6	AP, FWAA, NEA, UPI	Time, WC

All-American selections for 1961

Ends

• Gary Collins , Maryland (AFCA, AP-2, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-1, CP, Time, WC)
• Bill Miller , Miami (Fla.) (AP-1, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-2, Time, WC)
• Greg Mather, Navy (AP-3, FWAA, UPI-2, CP)
• Gary Hillebrand, Colorado (AP-1, FWAA)
• Pat Richter, Wisconsin (AP-2, UPI-1)
• Robert Mitinger, Penn State (AFCA, UPI-3)
• Hugh Campbell, Washington State (AP-3, UPI-3)

Tackles

• Billy Neighbors , Alabama (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA [guard], NEA, SN, UPI-1, CP, WC)
• Merlin Olsen , Utah State (AP-1, FWAA, NEA, UPI-1, Time, WC)
• Bobby Bell, Minnesota (AFCA, AP-3, FWAA, SN, UPI-2, CP)
• Ed Blaine, Missouri (AP-2, FWAA)
• Don Talbert, Texas (FWAA, UPI-3)
• Fate Echols, Northwestern (Time)
• Steve Barnett, Oregon (AP-2)
• Jim Dunaway, Ole Miss (UPI-2)
• Art Gregory, Duke (AP-3)

Guards

• Roy Winston , LSU (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-1, CP, Time, WC)
• Joe Romig , Colorado (AFCA, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-1, WC)
• Dave Behrman, Michigan State (AP-1, FWAA, UPI-3 [tackle])
• Nick Buoniconti, Notre Dame (UPI-2, CP)
• Bookie Bolin, Mississippi (Time)
• Mike Ingram, Ohio State (AP-2, UPI-2)
• Dave Watson, Georgia Tech (AP-2)
• Stan Sezurek, Purdue (AP-3, UPI-3)
• Larry Vignali, Pitt (AP-3, UPI-3)

Centers

• Alex Kroll , Rutgers (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, NEA, UPI-1, WC)
• Bill Van Buren, Iowa (SN, CP)
• Ron Hull, UCLA (AP-2, FWAA, UPI-3)
• Irv Goode, Kentucky (Time)
• Larry Onesti, Northwestern (AP-3, UPI-2)

Quarterbacks

• Sandy Stephens , Minnesota (AP-1, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-1, WC)
• Roman Gabriel, North Carolina State (AFCA, AP-2, FWAA, UPI-2, Time)
• John Hadl, Kansas (FWAA-1, AP-3, UPI-2)
• Doug Elmore, Mississippi (CP)
• Eddie Wilson, Arizona (AP-3)

Halfbacks

• Ernie Davis , Syracuse (AFCA, AP-1,FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-1, CP, Time, WC)
• Jimmy Saxton , Texas (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-1, CP, WC)
• Lance Alworth, Arkansas (AP-2, FWAA, UPI-2)
• Ronnie Bull, Baylor (UPI-3, Time)
• Pat Trammell, Alabama (AP-2, UPI-2)
• Bennie McRae, Michigan (AP-3)
• Dave Hoppman, Iowa State (AP-3, UPI-3)

Fullbacks

• Bob Ferguson , Ohio State (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI-1, CP, Time, WC)
• Billy Ray Adams, Mississippi (AP-2, FWAA, UPI-3)
• George Saimes, Michigan State (UPI-3)

Key

• Bold – Consensus All-American ^[1]
• -1 – First-team selection
• -2 – Second-team selection
• -3 – Third-team selection

Official selectors

• AFCA = American Football Coaches Association ^[2]
• AP = Associated Press ^{[3] [4] [5]}
• FWAA = Football Writers Association of America ^[6]
• NEA = Newspaper Enterprise Association ^[7]
• SN = Sporting News ^[8]
• UPI = United Press International ^{[9] [10] [11]}

Other selectors

• CP = Central Press Association ^[12]
• Time = Time magazine ^[13]
• WC = Walter Camp Football Foundation ^[14]

See also

• 1961 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team
• 1961 All-Big Eight Conference football team
• 1961 All-Big Ten Conference football team
• 1961 All-Pacific Coast football team
• 1961 All-SEC football team
• 1961 All-Southwest Conference football team

References

1. "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 9. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
2. "Coaches' All-America". AFCA.
3. "Big Line Tops Classy AP All-America Team". AP.
4. "Miami's Bill Miller Chosen As All-American". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (Florida). Associated Press. December 8, 1961. p. 36.
5. "Giant line, brilliant backs mark AP All-America team". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. December 8, 1961. p. 18.
6. Ted Gangi (ed.). "FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 12, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
7. "Collins on NEA All-America Team". Gastonia Gazette. Gastonia, NC.
8. "The Sporting News: College Football TSN All America Teams". The Sporting News. Archived from the original on July 27, 2009. Retrieved April 19, 2009.
9. "UPI Selects 1961 All-America Club". Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake, Utah.
10. "Ferguson, Davis, Romig Are Repeats On All-America Team". Lodi News-Sentinel. (California). UPI. December 7, 1961. p. 8.
11. "Ferguson, Davis head UPI squad". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. December 7, 1961. p. 3D.
12. "Captains All-America Teams". Central Press.
13. "The Sporting News: 1961 All-America Teams". Time.
14. "All-America Teams". Walter Camp Football Foundation. Archived from the original on December 18, 2007. Retrieved April 19, 2009.