1902 All-America college football team

Consensus All-Americans

In its official listing of "Consensus All-America Selections," the NCAA identifies as "consensus All-Americans" those players who were selected by either Camp or Whitney. Using this criterion, the NCAA recognized 14 players as "consensus All-American" for the 1902 football season. They are indicated in bold in the list below ("All-Americans of 1901").

In 2008, Sports Illustrated sought to answer the question, "Who would have won the Heisman from 1900-1934?" Its selection for 1902 was Paul Bunker of Army, a player who converted from tackle to halfback and "dominated Navy from both sides of the ball, scoring twice in a 22-8 victory."

Concerns of Eastern bias

The All-America selections by Camp and Whitney were dominated by players from the East and the Ivy League in particular. In 1902, all 14 consensus All-Americans came from Eastern universities, and 12 of 14 played in the Ivy League. The Yale Bulldogs (Camp's alma mater) had seven players who were designated as consensus All-Americans. The only two consensus All-Americans from schools outside the Ivy League were tackle Paul Bunker and center Robert Boyers, both of whom played for Army.

The dominance of Eastern players led to criticism over the years that the All-America selections were biased against players from the leading Western universities, including Chicago, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame. During the 1902 season, Fielding H. Yost's "Point-a-Minute" team at Michigan compiled an 11–0 record and outscored its opponents by a combined score of 644 to 12. Seven Michigan players were chosen for All-Western teams, including Willie Heston, Joe Maddock, Boss Weeks, Everett Sweeley, Paul J. Jones, Curtis Redden, and Dan McGugin. Yet, not one player from a western school was recognized as a first-team All-American by Camp or Whitney.

Unofficial selectors

In addition to Camp and Whitney, other sports writers and publications selected All-America teams in 1902, though such lists have not been recognized as "official" All-America selections by the NCAA. The list below includes the All-America selections made by The Newark Advocate and The Post-Standard of Syracuse, New York. Only one player, guard Edward Glass of Yale, was unanimously selected by Camp, Whitney, The Newark Advocate, and The Post-Standard.

All-American selections for 1902

Ends

• Thomas Shevlin, Yale (WC-1; CW-1)
• Edward Bowditch, Harvard (WC-1; CW-1; NA-1)
• Ralph Tipton Davis, Princeton (WC-2; CW-2; NA-1; PS-1)
• Joseph McAndrew, Army (PS-1)
• Everett Sweeley, Michigan (WC-2)
• D. R. Brown, Lafayette (CW-2)
• Sol Metzger, Penn (WC-3)
• Allen Farmer, Dartmouth (WC-3)

Tackles

• Ralph Kinney, Yale (WC-1; CW-1)
• James Hogan, Yale (WC-1; NA-1; PS-1)
• Paul Bunker, Army (WC-1; CW-1; PS-1)
• Joseph Maddock, Michigan (NA-1)
• Hervey Cushman Pierce, Amherst (WC-2)
• Daniel Knowlton, Harvard (WC-2)
• Edward Farnsworth, Army (CW-2)
• Robert Torrey, Penn (CW-2)
• Ernest Farr, Chicago (WC-3)
• Fred Schacht, Minnesota (WC-3)

Guards

• Edgar Glass, Yale (WC-1; CW-1; NA-1; PS-1)
• John DeWitt, Princeton (WC-1; CW-2; NA-1; PS-1)
• Bill Warner, Cornell (WC-2; CW-1)
• Charles Belknap Jr., Navy (CW-2)
• George Goss, Yale (WC-2)
• Arnie Lerum, Wisconsin (WC-3)
• Andrew Marshall, Harvard (WC-3)

Centers

• Henry Holt, Yale (WC-1; CW-2; NA-1; PS-1)
• Robert Boyers, Army (WC-2; CW-1)
• James F. McCabe, Penn (WC-3)

Quarterbacks

• Foster Rockwell, Yale (WC-1; CW-1; PS-1)
• Boss Weeks, Michigan (WC-2; CW-2; NA-1)
• Charles Dudley Daly, Army (WC-3)

Halfbacks

• George B. Chadwick, Yale (WC-1; CW-1; NA-1)
• Thomas A. Barry, Brown (WC-2; CW-1)
• Willie Heston, Michigan (WC-3; NA-1)
• Harold Weekes, Columbia (CW-2; PS-1)
• Harold Metcalf, Yale (WC-2; CW-2; PS-1)
• Walter L. Foulke, Princeton (WC-3)

Fullbacks

• Thomas Graydon, Harvard (WC-1; CW-1; NA-1)
• Morgan H. Bowman, Yale (WC-2; CW-2; PS-1)
• Torne, Army (WC-3)

Key

• WC = Walter Camp published in Collier's Weekly
• CW = Caspar Whitney published in Outing magazine
• NA = The Newark Advocate
• PS = The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York)
• Bold = Consensus All-American

References

References

1. Mike Beacom. (December 12, 2008). "Who would have won the Heisman from 1900-1934". Sports Illustrated.
2. (December 8, 1910). "All-American Teams of East Are Jokes: Critics Who Never Saw Western Teams Play to Name Best in Country -- Forget About Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois". The Mansfield News.
3. Ross Tenney. (December 31, 1922). "Much Dissatisfaction Over Camp's All-American Team: Football Dean Is Accused of Favoring East; Walter Camp Soundly Scored For 'Poorest Teams Ever Foisted Upon Public'". The Des Moines Capital.
4. "1902 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library.
5. Michael MacCambridge, Dan Jenkins. (2005). "ESPN College Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of College Football from 1869 to the Present".
6. (1903). "All-America Team and Review of Season of 1902". Spalding's Football Guide.
7. Caspar Whitney. (January 1903). "The Viewpoint". Outing.
8. (December 2, 1902). "Our All-American Selection". The Newark Advocate.
9. (November 24, 1902). "The All-American Team For the Season of 1902". The Post-Standard.
10. (2016). "Football Award Winners". National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).