Walter Camp Foundation, Inc.

Walter Camp 2008 All-America Notebook

Walter Camp 2008 All-America Notebook

A Little History

This is the 119th 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 119 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

Seven conferences and 18 schools have representatives on the 2008 Walter Camp All-America First Team. The Big 12 Conference had eight members selected to the first team, the highest total of any league. Three schools (Texas Tech, Missouri and Texas) each placed a pair of student-athletes (or players) on the first team. The Big Ten Conference was next with six selections and the SEC and Pac-10 each had three honorees. The Big 12 added four more Second Team selections, including Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford.

Men of Troy

With two first team selections (LB Rey Maualuga and DB Taylor Mays), it is the 16th time since 1966 that USC has had multiple honorees. It is the fifth time in the last six years (with 2006 the exception – just one first team honoree) the Trojans had multiple honorees.

• Texas had multiple first-team selections (QB Colt McCoy and DL Brian Orakpo) for the fourth time in the last five years.

• Missouri had two First Team selections (TE Chase Coffman and KR Jeremy Maclin) for the first time in school history… A year ago, the Tigers had two Second Team selections (QB Chase Daniel and TE Martin Rucker).

• The Mountain West Conference had two First Team selections (TCU DL Jerry Hughes and Utah PK Louis Sakoda) for the first time in the league’s 10-year existence.

Streaking

Texas ran its’ streak of having a Walter Camp First Team All-America selection to nine consecutive seasons (2000-08) – the longest current skien in the country. Ohio State has been represented in eight consecutive years (2001-2008), followed by USC, with seven (2002-2008). The all-time longest streak is Notre Dame, 18 years (1964 to 1981).

Three-Peat for Laurinaitis

Leading the defensive unit is a three-time Walter Camp All-America selection, Ohio State senior linebacker James Laurinaitis. Laurinaitis is the fifth player to earn Walter Camp All-America honors three times, joining Dre’ Bly (DB, North Carolina - 1996-98), Herschel Walker (RB, Georgia - 1980-82), Hugh Green (DE, Pittsburgh - 1978-80), and Ken Easley (DB, UCLA - 1978-80).

Colt-45

Colt McCoy is the second Texas player to earn Walter Camp Player of the Year honors, joining RB Ricky Williams (1998). He is the first Big 12 quarterback to win the award since 2001 (Eric Crouch, Nebraska).

Don’t Mess With Texas

Seven Walter Camp All-America honors (First and Second Teams) are residents of the state of Texas… Five first-team and two second-team honorees are residents from the Longhorn State, including McCoy (Tuscola). The duo from Texas Tech (WR Michael Crabtree and OL Rylan Reed) each hail from Dallas.

The Garden State

Five Walter Camp All-America honorees (First and Second Teams) hail from the state of New Jersey… Three of the four running backs are New Jersey natives: Iowa’s Shonn Greene (Sickerville), Connecticut’s Donald Brown (Atlantic Highlands) and Gerorgia’s Knowshon Moreno (Bedford)… In addition, Ohio State defensive back Malcolm Jenkins (Ohio State) is from Piscataway and Second Team offensive lineman Eugene Moreno (Virginia) hails from Plainfield.

Good to See You Again, Too

• Defensive end George Selvie (South Florida) earned Second Team honors in 2008… Selvie was a First Team selection last year.

• West Virginia offensive lineman Ryan Stanchek made the Second Team for the second straight year.

• Rice wide receiver Jarett Dillard earned Second Team honors for the second time – he also made it in 2006.

Moving Up

Three players selected to the 2008 First Team – Duke Robinson (OL, Oklahoma) and defensive backs Alphonso Smith (Wake Forest) and Malcolm Jenkins (Ohio State) – were Second Team selections in 2007.

First Team Notables

• Shonn Greene is the first Iowa running back to earn Walter Camp All-America honors.

• Javon Ringer is the first Michigan State running back to be honored by Walter Camp since two-time recipient Lorenzo White (1985 and 1987).

• Punter T.J. Conley is Idaho’s first All-America in its 14 years at the Bowl Subdivision level.

• Brandon Spikes is the first Florida linebacker to earn Walter Camp First Team All-America honors since 1999 when former Gator and NFL standout Jevon Kearse made the team.

Second Team Notable

• The nation’s leading rusher, Connecticut’s Donald Brown was named to the Second Team… Brown is first UConn player to earn Walter Camp All-America honors.

• Second Team offensive center Alex Mack (California) recently was named the recipient of the Draddy Trophy by the National Football Foundation.

Download the PDF

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.