DALLAS (FWAA) The Football Writers Association of America's 71st All-America First Team is dominated by the five Football Bowl Subdivision power conferences, which placed 25 of the 26 players on the unit deemed the best in college football.
For the third straight season, the official announcement of the FWAA All-America Team, the second-longest continuously-published team in major college football, came exclusively on SiriusXM Radio's "College Football Nation."
While there are no repeat selections from the 2013 FWAA first team, defending national champion Florida State, unbeaten and one of four teams in the College Football Playoff semifinals, placed one player on the first team. The Seminoles added four on the second team to lead all schools with a combined five FWAA All-Americans. This is just the second season in the modern era (post-1950) that the FWAA has named a second team.
Three teams had two players on the FWAA first team. No. 2 Oregon, the national semifinalist facing the No. 3 Seminoles in the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual, claimed a pair on the first team, as did No. 1 Alabama, which faces No. 4 Ohio State in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in the other semifinal. Utah, bound for the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl, also had two selections.
The 2014 first team also features the FWAA's Outland Trophy winner (best interior lineman), offensive tackle Brandon Scherff of Iowa, who is one of 10 seniors on the first team. Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright III, the FWAA's Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner (best defensive player), headed up a five-man sophomore class. There were 11 juniors on the first team, including Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, the Heisman Trophy winner. The two kicking specialists on the first team, kicker Brad Craddock of Maryland and punter Tom Hackett of Utah, both hail from Australia.
The conference breakdown for the first team went like this: Big Ten (7), Pac-12 (6), SEC (6), Big 12 (4) Atlantic Coast (2) and Mountain West (1).
The FWAA All-America Team was first selected in 1944, three years after the organization was formed. The FWAA's inaugural team included Army's Heisman Trophy tandem of Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis and Georgia Tech's Frank Broyles, who later became Arkansas' head football coach and athletic director.
Over the years, the FWAA team has highlighted all the game's great players in several media forums. From 1946-70, LOOK magazine published the FWAA team and brought players and selected writers to New York City for a celebration. During that 25-year period, the FWAA team was introduced on national television shows by such noted hosts as Bob Hope, Steve Allen, and Perry Como.
After LOOK folded, the FWAA started a long association with NCAA Films (later known as NCAA Productions), which produced a 30-minute television program. The team was part of ABC-TV's 1981 College Football Series. From 1983-90, the team was introduced on either ABC or ESPN. In 2002 and '03, the All-America team was honored with a banquet at the Citrus Bowl.
The same bowl, now the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl, also was a sponsor when the team was featured on ABC and ESPN from different locations on Disney properties from 2004-07. From 2008-10, the team had been the subject of a one-hour ESPN special.
For seven decades the FWAA has selected an All-America team with the help of its members and an All-America Committee, which represents all the regions in the country. From that All-America team, the FWAA also selects the Outland Trophy winner (best interior lineman) and also the Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner (best defensive player).
Some of the true greats of the writing profession have helped to select this team over the years: Grantland Rice, Bert McGrane, Blackie Sherrod, Furman Bisher, Pat Harmon, Fred Russell, Edwin Pope, Murray Olderman, Paul Zimmerman – and the list goes on and on. The FWAA All-America team is steeped in tradition and history and is selected by a writers' group with those same attributes.
The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization
founded in 1941, consists of more than 1,400 men and women who cover college football.
The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key
executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas
that include gameday operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For
more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson
at tiger@fwaa.com or 214-870-6516.
Related link:
• All-Time FWAA All-America Teams (.pdf)