| 1980 College Football All-America Team |
|---|
| College Football All-America Team |
| 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season |
| Official selectors |
|
American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Associated Press (AP) Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) United Press International (UPI) |
| ← 1979 1981 → |
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]
- ^ "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. pp. 3, 12. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
APwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
FWwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
UPIwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
NEAwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
WCwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ John Nelson (September 3, 1989). "1980 AP All-America Team--a Decade Later". The New York Times.