Seven active NFL players were recognized as among the greatest players in the history of college football when the Football Writers Association of America announced its 75th Anniversary All-America Team today.
The FWAA was founded in 1941, and to mark its 75th season, the organization selected an All-America team of the greatest players of the past 75 years. That team included seven active NFL players: Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald, Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson, Eagles quarterback Tim Tebow, Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly, Packers kicker Mason Crosby and Lions receiver Calvin Johnson.
Fitzgerald, Suh and Woodson were selected to the first team. Those three all have a strong claim for having had the best college career of any active player. Fitzgerald was a unanimous All-American and the winner of the Biletnikoff Award at Pittsburgh in 2003. Suh was a unanimous All-American and the winner of the Outland, Nagurski and Bednarik awards at Nebraska, and he was also the first defensive player to win the Associated Press player of the year award. Woodson, who won the Heisman Trophy at Michigan in 1997, was the only primarily defensive player to win the Heisman.
Crosby is an odd choice. He was a fine kicker at Colorado, but he benefited from kicking at altitude, and another kicker, Oakland’s Sebastian Janikowski, a two-time Lou Groza Award winner at Florida State, would seem to be a much better choice.
The selection of Tebow isn’t bad -- he won a Heisman Trophy and was on two national championship-winning teams -- but a strong case could be made that Peyton Manning or Cam Newton (among many others) had a better college career. The reality, however, is that this All-America team is, more than anything, an excuse to start arguments among football fans. And no player will be the subject of more arguments than Tebow.
