The 1902 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various individuals who chose

College Football All-America Team The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best college football players in the United States at their respective positions. The original use of the term '' All-America'' seems to have been to the 1889 College Footbal ...

s for the

1902 college football season The 1902 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the ''Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book'' listing Michigan and Yale as having been selected national champions. Conference and program changes Conference changes *One ...

. The only two individuals who have been recognized as "official" selectors by the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) for the 1902 season are

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...

and

Caspar Whitney Caspar William Whitney (September 2, 1864 – January 18, 1929) was an American author, editor, explorer, outdoorsman and war correspondent. He originated the concept of the All-American team in college football in 1889 when he worked for '' Harp ...

, who had originated the

14 years earlier in 1889. Camp's 1902 All-America Team was published in ''

Collier's Weekly ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...

'', and Whitney's selections were published in '' Outing'' magazine.

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 ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' 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 The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

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 The Yale Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The school sponsors 35 varsity sports. The school has won two NCAA national championships in women's fencing, four in ...

(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 Robert Emlen Boyers (December 25, 1876 – August 4, 1949) was a United States Army officer and American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Military Academy from 1904 to 1905, compiling a record of ...

, 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 Fielding Harris Yost (; April 30, 1871 – August 20, 1946) was an American football player, coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at: Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, the University ...

'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 William Martin Heston (September 9, 1878 – September 9, 1963) was an American football player and coach. He played halfback at San Jose State University and the University of Michigan. Heston was the head football coach for Drake University ...

, Joe Maddock, Boss Weeks,

Everett Sweeley Everett Marlin Sweeley (March 4, 1880 – September 2, 1957) was an American football player and coach. He played fullback, halfback and end for the University of Michigan from 1899 to 1902 and was a member of Fielding H. Yost's 1901 and 1902 " ...

, Paul J. Jones,

Curtis Redden Curtis Gerald "Cap" Redden (February 8, 1881 – January 16, 1919) was an American football player. He was the starting left end for the University of Michigan's football team from 1901 to 1904. He played for Michigan's "Point-a-Minute" teams a ...

, and

Dan McGugin Daniel Earle McGugin (July 29, 1879 – January 23, 1936) was an American football player and coach, as well as a lawyer. He served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee from 1904 to 1917 and again from ...

. 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 ''The Post-Standard'' is a newspaper serving the greater Syracuse, New York, metro area. Published by Advance Publications, it and sister website Syracuse.com are among the consumer brands of Advance Media New York, alongside NYUp.com and ''The ...

'' 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 Edward "Pete" Bowditch, Jr. (October 29, 1881April 6, 1965) was an American football player, military officer, diplomat, and insurance broker. He was a consensus All-American football player at Harvard in 1901 and 1902. He later had a distinguis ...

, Harvard (WC-1; CW-1; NA-1) *

Ralph Tipton Davis Ralph Tipton Davis (c. 1880May 23, 1934) was an American football player. He played college football at Princeton University and was a consensus All-American in 1901. He also played for Princeton's baseball and track teams. In 1902, he won the ...

, Princeton (WC-2; CW-2; NA-1; PS-1) * Joseph McAndrew, Army (PS-1) *

, Michigan (WC-2) *Brown, Lafayette (CW-2) *

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, Penn (WC-3) *Allen Farmer, Dartmouth (WC-3)

Tackles

Ralph Kinney Ralph Parsons Kinney Sr. (September 30, 1881 – July 1, 1956) was an American football player. He played college football for the Yale Bulldogs football team from 1902 to 1904 and was selected as a consensus All-American at the tackle position ...

, 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 Edward Ellis Farnsworth (July 30, 1880 – December 19, 1937) was an American football player, an officer in the United States Army and a member of the Maine State Highway Commission. He was thrice selected as an All-American (1900, 1902, 1903) ...

, Army (CW-2) *

Robert Torrey Robert Grant Torrey (July 12, 1878 – January 12, 1941) was an American football player and coach. He played center and was selected as the captain of the University of Pennsylvania's unbeaten teams of 1904 and 1905. When the Quakers went 12–0 ...

, Penn (CW-2) *Ernest Farr, Chicago (WC-3) *

Fred Schacht Frederick E. Schacht (c. 1875 – December 1, 1906) was an American college football coach, player, and medical doctor. He served as the head football coach at Kentucky State College—now known as the University of Kentucky—from 1904 to 1905, ...

, Minnesota (WC-3)

Guards

Edgar Glass Edgar Toll Glass (May 24, 1879 – April 9, 1944) was an American football player. He played college football at Syracuse University and Yale University. He was selected as a consensus All-American at the guard position in 1902. Glass played tw ...

, 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) *

, Army (WC-2; CW-1) *James F. McCabe, Penn (WC-3)

Quarterbacks

Foster Rockwell Foster Haven Rockwell (August 15, 1880 – January 26, 1942) was an All-American football player and hotelier. A native of Vermont, Rockwell played football at Yale University and was selected as the quarterback on the 1902 College Football All-A ...

, 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) *

, 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 Thomas Hetherington "Blondy" Graydon (March 30, 1881 – October 1949) was an All-American football player. While attending Harvard, he was selected as fullback on the All-American teams of 1901 and 1902. Early years Graydon was the son of Ann ...

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

Key

* WC =

published in ''

'' * CW =

published in '' Outing'' magazine * NA = '' The Newark Advocate'' * PS = ''

'' (Syracuse, New York) * Bold = Consensus All-American

References

{{College Football All-America Teams

All-America Team The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

College Football All-America Teams