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2009 Walter Camp All-America Notebook
This is the 120th edition of the Walter Camp All-America team – the nation’s oldest All-America team.
Walter Camp 2009 All-America Notebook
A Little History
This is the 120th edition of the Walter Camp All-America team – the nation’s oldest All-America team. Twenty-five players are selected to the first team by the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors.
• From 1892 to 1964, eleven players were selected.
• In 1965, both offensive and defensive teams were picked.
• In 1972, the first punter (Ray Guy, Southern Mississippi) was honored.
• In 1975, the first placekicker (Chris Bahr, Penn State) was selected.
• In 2001, the first kick returner (Herb Haygood, Michigan State) was picked.
Conference Info
Six different conferences, including independent Notre Dame, and 16 schools have representatives on the 2009 Walter Camp All-America First Team. The Southeastern Conference had 10 members selected to the first team, the highest total of any league. SEC champion Alabama had the most first-team selections with four. The Big 12 Conference was next with seven first-team selections and the Pac-10 had three honorees. The SEC added four more Second Team selections, including two from Alabama (PK Leigh Tiffin and DB Javier Arenas).
Roll Tide
Alabama had the most first-team selections with four. It is the eighth time since 1965 (the first year when offensive and defensive teams were picked) that one team had four selections. The last time was 2003 (Oklahoma).
Streaking
Texas ran its’ streak of having a Walter Camp First Team All-America selection to 10 consecutive seasons (2000-09) – the longest current streak in the country. USC has been represented in eight consecutive years (2002-2009). The all-time streak is Notre Dame, 18 years (1964 to 1981).
Longhorn(s)
Texas had multiple first-team selections (QB Colt McCoy, WR Jordan Shipley and DB Earl Thomas) for the fifth time in the last six years.
Don’t Mess With Texas
Twelve Walter Camp All-America honorees (First and Second Teams) are residents of the state of Texas… The breakdown includes six first-team and six second-team selections from the Longhorn State, including McCoy (Tuscola).
Colt-45
Colt McCoy is the third player to repeat as the Walter Camp Player of the Year, joining USC RB O.J. Simpson (1967 and 1968) and Ohio State RB Archie Griffin (1974 and 1975).
Like Father, Like Son
Georgia punter Drew Butler is the son of former Bulldog and NFL star Kevin Butler. The elder Butler was a 1984 Walter Camp All-American placekicker. It is believed to be the first father-son combination to earn Walter Camp All-American honors.
Moving Up
One player – Alabama defensive lineman Terrence Cody – was selected to the 2009 First Team after earning Second Team honors a year ago.
Nice to See You Again
Five players – QB Colt McCoy (Texas), DL Jerry Hughes (TCU), LB Brandon Spikes (Florida), DB Eric Berry (Tennessee) and DB Taylor Mays (USC) – are repeat selections to the Walter Camp First Team All-America squad.
C.J. Squared
Clemson’s C.J. Spiller has the distinction of being a 2009 Walter Camp First and Second team All-American. Spiller is the kick returner on the first team and the second team running back.
First and Second Team Notables
• Ndamukong Suh is the first Nebraska player since 2001 (OL Tonui Fonoti) to earn Walter Camp First Team All-American honors. Suh was also a finalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year award. He is the third defensive player (Oklahoma DB Roy Williams, 2001, and Ohio State LB A.J. Hawk, 2005) to be a finalist.
• The Mountain West Conference had two First Team selections (TCU DL Jerry Hughes and BYU tight end Dennis Pitta) for the second straight year. Hughes is also the first Mountain West player to repeat as a First Team Walter Camp All-American.
• Idaho was represented on the first team (OL Mike Iupati) for the second straight year. Last year, Vandal punter T.J. Conley was honored.
• Eric Berry is the second Tennessee player (OL Chip Kelly, 1969 and 1970) to repeat as a First Team All-American.
• Toby Gerhart is the first Stanford player since 1999 (WR Troy Walters) to earn Walter Camp All-America honors. Gerhart is also the first Stanford running back to be recognized.
• Mark Ingram is the first Alabama running back to earn Walter Camp All-America honors since 1987 (Bobby Humphrey).
• Tim Tebow (Florida) and Case Keenum (Housaton) were named to the Second Team after tying in the number of votes. The last time there was a tie in the voting was 2002 – when quarterbacks Ken Dorsey (Miami) and Brad Banks (Iowa) were first-team selections. Tebow, who earned First Team honors in 2007, has been on the second team the last two years.
• Eric Norwood is the first South Carolina player since 1984 (OL Del Wilkes) to earn Walter Camp First Team All-America honors.
Walter Camp, "The Father of American football," first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp — a former Yale University athlete and football coach — is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation — a New Haven based all volunteer group — was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All America team.
About the Foundation
"Walter Camp was one of the giants of football in the United States. He stands with Stagg, Rockne, Thorpe, Warner, Heffelfinger in the imprint they made upon the game. He stands first among them, for it was he who sired the game as it is played in the United States, the game that evolved from the rugby football of England. He played in the first Yale-Harvard game of rugby in 1876. From then on, his was the fertile, inventive mind and guiding leadership that brought about the evolution of the American style of football."
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