Ground Report

FWAA NAMES 2009 ALL-AMERICA TEAM

DALLAS (FWAA) – The Southeastern Conference led the selection process with seven players and the Big 12 Conference had five when the 2009 Football Writers Association of America All-America Team was announced on Saturday. Nine of the 11 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision conferences and independent Notre Dame were represented on the squad.

The FWAA All-America Team, the second-longest continuously-published team in major college football, was announced on ABC-TV for the sixth straight season during a one-hour show that was sponsored by AT&T. The FWAA has named an All-America team in some form since 1944.

Nebraska tackle Ndamukong Suh, the Outland Trophy winner as the nation’s best interior lineman and Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner as the nation’s best defensive player, led a star-studded defense that had three repeat selections from 2008 – TCU end Jerry Hughes, Tennessee back Eric Berry and Alabama tackle Terrence Cody. Suh is the third player to sweep both the FWAA’s Outland and Nagurski trophies after Arizona’s Rob Waldrop in 1993 and LSU’s Glenn Dorsey in 2007.

Alabama led all schools with three players selected: Cody, linebacker Rolando McClain and running back Mark Ingram.
Florida had two players: defensive back Joe Haden and center Maurkice Pouncey. McCoy, the other FWAA All-America repeater from 2008, was the quarterback of the team for the second straight season, and his teammate, defensive back Earl Thomas, also made the team. McCoy is the first quarterback to earn back-to-back FWAA All-America honors since Ty Detmer in 1990 and ’91.
Also, Clemson had two players selected: return specialist C.J. Spiller and defensive back DeAndre McDaniel.

The ACC (three), Big Ten (two), Pacific-10 (two) and Mountain West (two) also had multiple players on the team. Thirteen of the 25 members of the team are underclassmen, including three sophomores. Four players – McCoy, Suh, Ingram and Stanford running back Toby Gerhart – are finalists for the Heisman Trophy to be presented on Saturday night.

2009 FWAA ALL-AMERICA TEAM

OFFENSE

QB Colt McCoy, Texas 6-2 210 Sr. Tuscola, Texas
RB Toby Gerhart, Stanford 6-1 235 Sr. Norco, Calif.
RB Mark Ingram, Alabama 5-11 215 So. Flint, Mich.
WR Freddie Barnes, Bowling Green 6-0 206 Sr. Chicago Heights, Ill.
WR Golden Tate, Notre Dame 5-11 195 Jr. Hendersonville, Tenn.
TE Dorin Dickerson, Pittsburgh 6-2 230 Sr. Imperial, Pa.
OL Zane Beadles, Utah 6-4 305 Sr. Sandy, Utah
OL Rodney Hudson, Florida State 6-2 285 Jr. Mobile, Ala.
OL Mike Iupati, Idaho 6-6 330 Sr. Anaheim, Calif.
OL Russell Okung, Oklahoma State 6-5 300 Sr. Houston, Texas
C Maurkice Pouncey, Florida 6-5 318 Jr. Lakeland, Fla.

DEFENSE

DL Terrence Cody, Alabama 6-5 365 Sr. Fort Myers, Fla.
DL Jerry Hughes, TCU 6-3 257 Sr. Sugar Land, Texas
DL Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma 6-4 297 Jr. Oklahoma City, Okla.
DL Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska 6-4 300 Sr. Portland, Ore.
LB Pat Angerer, Iowa 6-1 235 Sr. Bettendorf, Iowa
LB Greg Jones, Michigan State 6-1 228 Jr. Cincinnati, Ohio
LB Rolando McClain, Alabama 6-4 258 Jr. Decatur, Ga.
DB Eric Berry, Tennessee 5-11 203 Jr. Fairburn, Ga.
DB Joe Haden, Florida 5-11 190 Jr. Fort Washington, Md.
DB DeAndre McDaniel, Clemson 6-1 210 Jr. Tallahassee, Fla.
DB Earl Thomas, Texas 5-10 197 So. Orange, Texas

SPECIAL TEAMS

K Kai Forbath, UCLA 6-0 192 Jr. Pacific Palisades, Calif.
P Drew Butler, Georgia 6-2 203 So. Duluth, Ga.
RS C.J. Spiller, Clemson 5-11 195 Sr. Lake Butler, Fla.

First selected 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 Bob Hope, Steve Allen, Perry Como and others.

After LOOK folded, the FWAA started a long association with NCAA Films (later known as NCAA Productions), which produced a 30-minute television show and sold it to sponsors. The team was part of ABC Television’s 1981 College Football Series.

From 1983-90, the team was either on ABC or ESPN, and now has returned to the national spotlight on ABC.

The FWAA team has included most of the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award winners over the years and Outland Trophy winners. Those are the three oldest awards in major-college football.

For 66 years, 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. The FWAA also selects the Outland Trophy winner (best interior lineman) and 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: Mark Blaudschun, 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. It is a team steeped in tradition and history and selected by a writers’ group with the same attributes.

The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than 1,100 men and women across North America who cover college football for a living. 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, a national poll and its annual All-America team.

For more information on the FWAA All-America Team and the FWAA, contact FWAA executive director Steve Richardson 972-713-6198

2009 FWAA ALL-AMERICA COMMITTEE

John Davis Oxford (Miss.) Eagle Southeastern
Heather Dinich espn.com Atlantic Coast
Pete DiPrimio Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel Big Ten
Dennis Dodd cbssports.com Independents
Ryan Finley Arizona Daily Star Pacific-10
Pete Fiutak College Football News National
Kevin Gorman Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Big East
Anthony Hanshew The Herald-Dispatch (Huntington, W. Va.) Conference USA
Dave Matter Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune Big 12
Mick McGrane San Diego Union-Tribune Mountain West
Rodney McKissic Buffalo News Mid-American
Adam Sparks Daily News Journal (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) Sun Belt
Phil Steele Phil Steele Publications National
Jimmy Watson Shreveport Times Western Athletic