The 1961 All-America college football team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose All-America college football teams in 1961. The six selectors recognized by the NCAA as "official" for the 1961 season are (1) the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), (2) the Associated Press (AP), (3) the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), (4) the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), (5) the Sporting News, and (6) the United Press International (UPI).

Consensus All-Americans For the year 1961, the NCAA recognizes six published All-American teams as "official" designations for purposes of its consensus determinations. The following chart identifies the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans and displays which first-team designations they received.

Name Position School Number Official OtherRoy WinstonGuardLSU6/6AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPICP, Time, WCErnie DavisHalfbackSyracuse6/6AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPICP, Time, WCBob FergusonFullbackOhio State6/6AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPICP, Time, WCBilly NeighborsTackleAlabama6/6AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPICP, WCJimmy SaxtonHalfbackTexas6/6AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPICP, WCGary CollinsEndMaryland5/6AFCA, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPICP, Time, WCJoe RomigGuardColorado5/6AFCA, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPIWCAlex KrollCenterRutgers5/6AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, UPIWCSandy StephensQuarterbackMinnesota5/6AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPIWCBill MillerEndMiami (Fla.)4/6AP, FWAA, NEA, SNTime, WCMerlin OlsenTackleUtah State4/6AP, FWAA, NEA, UPITime, WC

All-American selections for 1961 Ends Gary Collins, Maryland (AFCA-1, AP-2, FWAA, NEA-1, SN, UPI-1, CP-1, Time, WC) Bill Miller, Miami (Fla.) (AP-1, FWAA, NEA-1, SN, UPI-2, CP-2, Time, WC) Greg Mather, Navy (AFCA-2, AP-3, FWAA, UPI-2, CP-1, NEA-2) Jerry Hillebrand, Colorado (AFCA-3, AP-1, FWAA, NEA-2) Pat Richter, Wisconsin (AFCA-2, AP-2, UPI-1, CP-3) Robert Mitinger, Penn State (AFCA-1, UPI-3, CP-3) Hugh Campbell, Washington State (AFCA-3, AP-3, NEA-3, UPI-3) Tom Hutchinson, Kentucky (NEA-3, CP-2)

Tackles Billy Neighbors, Alabama (AFCA-1, AP-1, FWAA [guard], NEA-1, SN, UPI-1, CP-1, WC) Merlin Olsen, Utah State (AFCA-2, AP-1, FWAA, NEA-1, UPI-1, CP-3, Time, WC) Bobby Bell, Minnesota (AFCA-1, AP-3, FWAA, NEA-2, SN, UPI-2, CP-1) Ed Blaine, Missouri (AP-2, FWAA, NEA-3) Don Talbert, Texas (FWAA, NEA-3, UPI-3, CP-2) Fate Echols, Northwestern (Time) Steve Barnett, Oregon (AP-2) Jim Dunaway, Ole Miss (AFCA-2, UPI-2, CP-3) Dave Behrman, Michigan State (NEA-2) Art Gregory, Duke (AP-3) Al Hinton, Iowa (AFCA-3) Marshall Shirk, UCLA (AFCA-3) Bob Asack, Columbia (CP-2)

Guards Roy Winston, LSU (AFCA-1, AP-1, FWAA, NEA-1, SN, UPI-1, CP-1, Time, WC) Joe Romig, Colorado (AFCA-1, FWAA, NEA-1, SN, UPI-1, CP-2, WC) Dave Behrman, Michigan State (AP-1, FWAA, UPI-3 [tackle]) Nick Buoniconti, Notre Dame (AFCA-2, NEA-3, UPI-2, CP-1) Bookie Bolin, Mississippi (Time) Mike Ingram, Ohio State (AFCA-2, AP-2, UPI-2) Dave Watson, Georgia Tech (AP-2) Stan Sczurek, Purdue (AP-3, NEA-2, UPI-3, CP-3) Larry Vignali, Pitt (AFCA-3, AP-3, NEA-2, UPI-3) Jim LeCompte, North Carolina (NEA-3) Jim Skaggs, Washington (AFCA-3) Jean Berry, Duke (CP-2) Herby Adkins, Baylor (CP-3)

Centers Alex Kroll, Rutgers (AFCA-1, AP-1, FWAA, NEA-1, UPI-1, CP-2, WC) Bill Van Buren, Iowa (SN, CP-1) Ron Hull, UCLA (AP-2, FWAA, NEA-2, UPI-3) Irv Goode, Kentucky (Time) Larry Onesti, Northwestern (AFCA-3, AP-3, NEA-3, UPI-2, CP-3) Lee Roy Jordan, Alabama (AFCA-2)

Quarterbacks Sandy Stephens, Minnesota (AP-1, FWAA, NEA-1, SN, UPI-1, CP-3, WC) Roman Gabriel, North Carolina State (AFCA-1, AP-2, FWAA, NEA-2, UPI-2, Time) John Hadl, Kansas (AFCA-2, FWAA-1, AP-3, NEA-2 [hb], UPI-2) Doug Elmore, Mississippi (CP-1) Eddie Wilson, Arizona (AP-3) Pat Trammell, Alabama (AFCA-3, AP-2 [hb], NEA-3, UPI-2 [hb], CP-2)

Halfbacks Ernie Davis, Syracuse (AFCA-1, AP-1,FWAA, NEA-1, SN, UPI-1, CP-1, Time, WC) Jimmy Saxton, Texas (AFCA-1, AP-1, FWAA, NEA-1, SN, UPI-1, CP-1, WC) Lance Alworth, Arkansas (AFCA-2, AP-2, FWAA, NEA-2, UPI-2, CP-2) Ronnie Bull, Baylor (AFCA-3, UPI-3, Time) Bennie McRae, Michigan (AP-3) Dave Hoppman, Iowa State (AFCA-2, AP-3, NEA-3, UPI-3) Pete Pedro, West Texas State (NEA-3) Angelo Dabiero, Notre Dame (AFCA-3, CP-2) Bob Smith, UCLA (CP-3) Charles McClinton, Kansas (CP-3)

Fullbacks Bob Ferguson, Ohio State (AFCA-1, AP-1, FWAA, NEA-1, SN, UPI-1, CP-1, Time, WC) Billy Ray Adams, Mississippi (AP-2, FWAA, NEA-2, UPI-3, CP-3) George Saimes, Michigan State (AFCA-2, NEA-3, UPI-3, CP-2) Al Rushatz, Army (AFCA-3)

Key

Official selectors

Other selectors

See also 1961 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team 1961 All-Big Eight Conference football team 1961 All-Big Ten Conference football team 1961 All-Pacific Coast football team 1961 All-SEC football team 1961 All-Southwest Conference football team

References