1931 College Football All-America Team

1931 College Football All-America Team
College Football All-America Team
1931 college football season
1929 1930 ← → 1932 1933

The 1931 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 1931. The seven selectors recognized by the NCAA as "official" for the 1931 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) the International News Service (INS), (6) Liberty magazine, and (7) the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA).

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 1931, 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. The only unanimous All-America selections in 1931 were Tulane's Gerald "Jerry" Dalrymple and Notre Dame's Marchmont Schwartz.

Name Position School Number Selectors
Jerry Dalrymple End Tulane 7/7 AAB, AP, COL, INS, LIB, NEA, UP
Marchmont Schwartz Halfback Notre Dame 7/7 AAB, AP, COL, INS, LIB, NEA, UP
Biggie Munn Guard Minnesota 6/7 AAB, AP, COL, INS, NEA, UP
Pug Rentner Halfback Northwestern 6/7 AAB, AP, COL, INS, NEA, UP
Johnny Baker Guard USC 5/7 AAB, INS, LIB, NEA, UP
Barry Wood Quarterback Harvard 4/7 AP, COL, INS, NEA
Gaius Shaver Fullback USC 4/7 AAB, COL, LIB, UP
Jess Quatse Tackle Pittsburgh 3/7 AAB, COL, UP
Jack Riley Tackle Northwestern 3/7 AAB, LIB, NEA
Tommy Yarr Center Notre Dame 3/7 AAB, AP, INS
Vernon Smith End Georgia 2/7 AP, COL
Dallas Marvil Tackle Northwestern 2/7 AP, INS

Proliferation of All-American teams

Damon Runyon described the proliferation of All-American teams as a virulent plague.

In 1931, Damon Runyon wrote a column about the proliferation of "All-America" teams. He noted: "The 'All' boys are it, tooth and nail. They are 'All'-ing North, South East and West. They will wind up 'All'-Americaing, the most virulent form of the 'All' plague that besets us every Winter. The late Walter Camp little realized what he was bringing upon the country. ... At the moment, Mr. Camp probably had no idea that he was sowing the seed of a fearful pestilence."[1] Runyon noted that Camp's word was viewed as gospel, but with his passing "the rush to fill his shoes was prodigious," and the "'All' business became a national obsession."[1]

All-Americans of 1931

Ends

  • Jerry Dalrymple, Tulane (AP–1; UP–1; COL–1; CP–1; NEA–1; INS–1; WCFF; LIB; HSM; CH-1; LP; AAB)
  • Vernon Smith, Georgia (AP-1; COL–1; NEA–2; INS–2; HSM; CP–1; CH-2; LP; UP-2)
  • Henry Cronkite, Kansas State (AP–2; UP–1; NEA–1; INS-2; CP–3; CH-1)
  • John Orsi, Colgate (AP–2; CP–2; NEA–2; INS-1; WCFF; CH-2; AAB)
  • Paul Moss, Purdue (NEA–3; INS-3l CP–2; LIB; UP-3)
  • George Koontz, SMU (CP-3)
  • Bill Hewitt, Michigan (NEA-3)
  • Garrett Arbelbide, USC (AP-3)
  • Fred Felber, North Dakota (AP-3)
  • Herster Barres, Yale (INS-3)
  • Ray Sparling, USC (UP-2)
  • Ralph Stone, California (UP-3)

Tackles

  • Dallas Marvil, Northwestern (AP–1; NEA–3; INS-1; CP–1; CH-2; HSM; UP-2)
  • Jesse Quatse, Pittsburgh (UP–1; COL–1; CP-2; WCFF; CH-1; AAB)
  • Jack Riley, Northwestern (NEA–1; INS-2; WCFF; AAB; LIB)
  • Paul Schwegler, Washington (AP–1; COL–1; INS-3; CP–2; UP-3)
  • Joe Kurth, Notre Dame (AP–2; UP–1; NEA–1; INS–2; CP–3; LIB; LP)
  • John "Jack" Price, Army (AP–3; CP–1; NEA–2; INS-1; CH-2; UP-3)
  • Jim MacMurdo, Pittsburgh (AP–2; NEA–3; INS-3; HSM)
  • Ira Hardy, Harvard (NEA–2; CH-1; LP)
  • Hugh Rhea, Nebraska (AP-3)
  • Ray Saunders, Tennessee (CP-3)
  • Richard Tozer, California (UP-2)

Guards

Centers

Quarterbacks

  • Barry Wood, Harvard (AP–1; COL–1; NEA–1; INS-1; CP–1; HSM; CH-2; UP-3)
  • Austin Downes, Georgia (UP-2; CP-3)
  • Bill Morton, Dartmouth (AP–2; NEA–2; INS-3; CH-1)
  • Carl Cramer, Ohio State (AP-3)

Halfbacks

  • Marchmont Schwartz, Notre Dame (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP–1; UP–1; COL–1; NEA–1; INS–1; WCFF; LIB; HSM; CH-1; LP; AAB)
  • Ernie Rentner, Northwestern (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP-1; UP–1; COL–1; NEA–1; INS–1 [named as fullback by Hearst]; CP–1; WCFF; HSM [named as fullback]; CH-1; LP; AAB)
  • Don Zimmerman, Tulane (AP–2; NEA–2; INS-1; CP–1; CH-2; UP-2)
  • Bob Monnett, Michigan State (CP-1)
  • Eugene McEver, Tennessee (AP–2; NEA–2; INS-2; CP–2; UP-3)
  • Bud Toscani, St. Marys (NEA-2)
  • Cornelius Murphy, Fordham (CP-3; CH-2) {Murphy died from a ruptured blood vessel in the brain in December 1931}
  • J. W. Crickard, Harvard (NEA-3)
  • Albert J. "Mighty Atom" Booth, Jr., Yale (AP–3; INS-2)
  • Weldon Mason, SMU (AP-3; UP-3)
  • Ray Stecker, Army (UP-2; INS-3)

Fullbacks

  • Gaius Shaver, USC (COL–1 [selected as fullback]; UP–1 [selected as quarterback]; NEA–3 [selected as quarterback]; INS–2 [selected as quarterback]; CP–1 [selected as fullback]; WCFF [selected as quarterback]; LIB; LP [selected as quarterback]; AAB)
  • Erny Pinckert, USC (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP–1; NEA–1; INS–3 [picked as halfback]; LIB; HSM [named as halfback]; CH-1; UP-3)
  • Johnny Cain, Alabama (UP–1; NEA–3 [picked as halfback]; INS-3; WCFF; CH-2; AAB)
  • Ralston "Rusty" Gill, California (NEA–3; LIB; LP; UP-2)
  • Orville Mohler, USC (AP-3; CP-2 [picked as quarterback])
  • Jack Manders, Minnesota (CP-2)
  • Bart Viviano, Cornell (AP-2)
  • Clarke Hinkle, Bucknell (INS-2)
  • Nollie Felts, Tulane (CP-3)

Key

Bold – Consensus All-American[2]

Selectors recognized by NCAA in consensus determinations

Other selectors

  • CP = Central Press Association, also known as the Captain's Poll, selected by a poll of the captains of the major football teams[12]
  • WCFF = Walter Camp Football Foundation[13]
  • HSM = All-American team selected by 18,006 fans through nationwide contest sponsored by clothier Hart, Schaffner and Marx[14]
  • CH = College Humor magazine[15]
  • LP = selected by Lawrence Perry, a former Princetonian who wrote a nationally syndicated sports colyum called For The Game's Sake[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Runyon, Damon (December 3, 1931). "Runyon Makes One Selection for 'All' Eleven". Chester Times.
  2. ^ "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 7. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  3. ^ "Shaver, Baker Picked on the All-American". The Los Angeles Times. December 6, 1931. p. Sports 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Grid Experts Select Cast Of All-Stars". The Salt Lake Tribune. December 6, 1931. p. 20. Retrieved May 22, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "The 1931 All-America Team". The Daily Inter Lake. Associated Press. December 5, 1931. p. 2. Retrieved May 22, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Collier's Announces Its 1931 All America". Lincoln Evening Journal. United Press. December 18, 1931. p. 18. Retrieved May 22, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Frick, Ford (December 5, 1931). "Stecker and Hinkle Get Grid Honors". The Evening News. p. 10. Retrieved May 22, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. ESPN Books. 2005. p. 1163. ISBN 1401337031.
  9. ^ MacPhail, Larry (December 14, 1931). "NEA Board Names All-America". The Anniston Star. Newspaper Enterprise Association. p. 8. Retrieved May 22, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ McLemore, Henry (December 4, 1931). "All-American Eleven Picked By U.P. Critics". The San Bernardino County Sun. United Press. p. 18. Retrieved May 22, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Second, Third Grid Teams on United Press All-Star Listing". The San Bernardino County Sun. United Press. December 4, 1931. p. 18. Retrieved May 22, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Bitt, Bill (December 9, 1931). "Real 1931 All-American Team Selected by College Captains". The Evening Independent (Massillon, Ohio).
  13. ^ "Walter Camp Football Foundation All-American Selections". Walter Camp Football Foundation. Archived from the original on December 18, 2007. Retrieved January 3, 2008.
  14. ^ "Mythical Team Nominated by Fans Announced". The Muscatine Journal and News-Tribune. December 11, 1931.
  15. ^ "All-America Selected by Coll. Humor". The Greeley Daily Tribune. Colorado. December 31, 1932.
  16. ^ Perry, Lawrence (December 5, 1931). "Gill Named on Perry's U.S. Star Eleven: Baker and Shaver Also Honored by Eastern Grid Expert". Oakland Tribune.