The 1927 College Football All-America team is composed of

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

players who were selected as

All-America 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 ...

ns by various organizations and writers that 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 Football ...

s in 1927. The seven selectors recognized by the

NCAA 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 an ...

as "official" for the 1927 season are (1) ''

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 ...

'', as selected by

Grantland Rice Henry Grantland "Granny" Rice (November 1, 1880July 13, 1954) was an early 20th-century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio. Early years Rice wa ...

with cooperation from ten coaches, (2) the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, (3) the

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

, selected based on consensus among UP newspapers throughout the country and prominent football coaches, (4) the All-America Board, (5) the

International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.

(INS), (6) the

Newspaper Enterprise Association The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news ...

(NEA), and (7) the

North American Newspaper Alliance The North American Newspaper Alliance (NANA) was a large newspaper syndicate that flourished between 1922 and 1980. NANA employed some of the most noted writing talents of its time, including Grantland Rice, Joseph Alsop, Michael Stern, Lothrop S ...

(NANA).

Consensus All-Americans

Following the death of

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 ...

in 1925, there was a proliferation of All-American teams in the late 1920s. For the year 1927, the NCAA recognizes seven 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. Michigan end

Bennie Oosterbaan Benjamin Oosterbaan ( ; February 24, 1906 – October 25, 1990) was a three-time first team All-American football end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-time All-American basketball player for the basketball team, and an All-Big Ten C ...

and Pittsburgh halfback

Gibby Welch Gilbert Laverne "Gibby" Welch (December 24, 1904 – February 10, 1984) was an American football player who played college football for the University of Pittsburgh. He broke Red Grange's single season yardage record in 1926 and was an All-Am ...

were the only players to be unanimously selected by all seven selectors as first-team All-Americans.

All-American selections for 1927

Ends

, Michigan (CFHOF) (AAB; AP-1; UP-1; COL-1; INS-1; NEA; NANA; CP-1; CEP-1; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-1; LP-1; WE-1) * Tom Nash, Georgia (AAB; AP-3; UP-3; COL-1; INS-1; NANA; CEP-3; HE-1; BE-3; LP-1; WE-1) *

Ivey Shiver Ivey Merwin Shiver (January 22, 1907 – August 31, 1972), nicknamed "Chick", was an American football and baseball player. He was an end for the Georgia Bulldogs football team in college, and later an outfielder in Major League Baseball. H ...

, Georgia (AP-1; UP-1; NEA; CP-2; HE-2; INS-3; NYS-1; BE-1; LP-2) * Dwight Fishwick, Yale (CP-1; WE-3) * George Cole, Dartmouth (AP-2; CEP-3; HE-3; INS-2) *

Rags Matthews Raymond "Rags" Matthews (August 17, 1905 – January 2, 1999) was an American football player at Texas Christian University (TCU) in the 1920s. A Fort Worth, Texas native, Matthews attended Polytechnic High School before TCU. He lettered three t ...

, TCU (CFHOF) (AP-2; INS-2; NYS-2; BE-3) *

Irvine Phillips Irvine Lewis Phillips Sr. (June 10, 1905 – April 4, 1999) was an American football player. He played college football at University of California, Berkeley and was a consensus selection at the end position on the 1928 College Football All-Ame ...

, California (AP-3; CP-2) * Stewart Scott, Yale (UP-2; BE-2) * Charles Born, Army (UP-2; CEP-1; HE-2; INS-3; NYS-2; BE-2) * Charlie Moeser, Princeton (HE-3; LP-2; WE-2) * Matthews, SMU (CEP-2) * Lou Jennings, Centenary (CEP-2) *

Joe Donchess Joe Donchess (March 17, 1905 – January 30, 1977) was an American football player at the University of Pittsburgh. He was a consensus All-American at end while playing on the 1929 university's football team under head coach Jock Sutherland. ...

, Pittsburgh (CFHOF) (WE-2) * Charles Walsh, Notre Dame (UP-3) * Ted Fleck, Kansas Aggies (WE-3)

Tackles

Jesse Hibbs Jesse John Hibbs (January 11, 1906 – February 4, 1985) was an American film director, film and television director and American football player. He played college football at the University of Southern California (USC), where he was an All-Ame ...

, USC (AAB; AP-2; UP-1; INS-1; NANA; CP-1; CEP-2; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-2; LP-1; WE-1) *

Ed Hake Edward William Hake (April 7, 1904 – September 12, 1978) was an American football player. A native of Michigan, he played college football at the University of Pennsylvania and was a consensus selection at the tackle position on the 1927 Colle ...

, Penn (AP-1; UP-1; NANA; CP-2; CEP-3; HE-2; BE-3) *

Bud Sprague Mortimer "Bud" Sprague (September 8, 1904 – April 25, 1973) was an American football player. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1970. He was one of the eight children born to Minna and George Sprague, of the Oak Cliff ne ...

, Army (CFHOF) (AP-1; UP-2; INS-1; CP-1; HE-1) *

Bill Kern William Franklin Kern (September 2, 1906 – April 5, 1985) was an American football player and coach. He played college football as a Tackle (gridiron football position), tackle at the University of Pittsburgh in 1925 and 1927 and then with th ...

, Pittsburgh (INS-2; NEA; HE-2; NYS-2; BE-1) * John Smith, Penn (AP-2; COL-1; LP-2; INS-3; WE-2) *

Leo Raskowski Leo Thomas Raskowski (March 28, 1906 – October 30, 1952) was an American college and professional football player of the 1920s and 1930s. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Thomas (a Polish immigrant) and Julia Raskowski. At Ohio State, he and r ...

, Ohio State (AP-3; COL-1; NEA; HE-3; BE-1; CEP-1; LP-1; WE-1) * Fred Pickhard, Alabama (UP-2; CP-2) * Leo Nowack, Illinois (AP-3) * George Perry, Army (LP-2; NYS-1; BE-2) *

Jap Douds Forrest McCreery "Jap" Douds (April 21, 1905 – August 16, 1979) was an All-American football player at Washington and Jefferson College in suburban Washington, Pennsylvania, where he was selected as an All-American three times and was the firs ...

, Washington & Jefferson (BE-3; CEP-1; HE-3; INS-2) * Sidney Quarrier, Yale (AAB; UP-3; CEP-2; WE-2) * James J. Fitzgerald, Tufts (UP-3) * Alton C. Sprott, Texas A&M (INS-3; NYS-2; BE-3 * Roy Randells, Nebraska (CEP-3) * Fritz Coultrin, California (WE-3) * Francis E. Lucas, Missouri (WE-3)

Guards

Bill Webster Bill Webster is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, ''Coronation Street'', played by Peter Armitage. The character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 6 February 1984 and remained in the show until 1985 when ...

, Yale (AAB; AP-1; UP-2; INS-1; NEA; NANA; CP-1; CEP-1; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-1; LP-1; WE-1) *

John "Clipper" Smith John Philip "Little Clipper" Smith (December 12, 1904 – May 11, 1973) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played college football as a guard at the University of Notre Dame under Knute Rockne. Smith ...

, Notre Dame (CFHOF) (AAB; AP-1; UP-1; COL-1; INS-1; NEA; CP-1; CEP-2; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-1; WE-1) *

Russ Crane Vice Admiral Russell Harry Crane, (born 11 June 1954) is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), who served as the Chief of Navy from July 2008 until his retirement in June 2011. Early life Crane was born in Southport ...

, Illinois (COL-1; LP-2) *

Ray Baer Raymond T. Baer (May 7, 1905 – January 19, 1968) was an American football player. He played college football at the University of Michigan from 1924 to 1927. He was selected as a first-team All-Big Ten Conference and second-team All-Americ ...

, Michigan (AP-2; UP-2; CP-2; HE-2; INS-2; BE-2; WE-2) * John Barnhill, Tennessee (AP-2) * Harold Hanson, Minnesota (AP-3; UP-1; NANA; CP-2; CEP-1; HE-2; INS-3; NYS-2; BE-2; LP-1; WE-3) * Gene Smith, Georgia (AP-3) * William Wright, Washington (INS-2; NYS-2; BE-3; LP-2) * John Roberts, Pittsburgh (WE-2) * Justin Whitlock Dart, Northwestern (UP-3) * R. Van I. Miller, Amherst (UP-3) *

Danny McMullen Daniel Edward McMullen (May 8, 1906 – August 22, 1983) was an American football player. He played college football at the guard position for the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 1925 to 1928. He was selected by the Associated Press as a second-te ...

, Nebraska (INS-3) * J. M. French, Princeton (HE-3) *

Seraphim Post Seraphim Fred Post (August 1, 1904 – August 12, 1975) was an American football guard who played college football at Stanford University. He was a consensus All-American in 1928. Stanford guard Don Robesky was also a consensus All-American i ...

, Stanford (HE-3) *

Raleigh Drennon Raleigh Eugene Drennon (September 21, 1908 – February, 1965) was a college football player. Georgia Tech Drennon was a prominent guard for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Drennon is a member of the Ge ...

, Georgia Tech (CEP-2; WE-3) * Robert N. Miller, Missouri (CEP-3) * E. G. Blake, Princeton (CEP-3)

Centers

Larry Bettencourt Lawrence Joseph Bettencourt (September 22, 1905 – September 15, 1978) was an American football and baseball player. He played professionally in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and third baseman for the St. Louis Browns and in the N ...

, St. Mary's (CFHOF) (AAB; AP-1; INS-1; CP-2; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-2; LP-2; WE-1) * John Charlesworth, Yale (UP-1; COL-1; NEA; CP-1; HE-2; BE-1) * Claude Grigsby, Georgetown (AP-2; HE-3) *

Ken Rouse Kenneth Rouse (August 22, 1906 – August 6, 1958) was an American football player. He played center for Amos Alonzo Stagg's University of Chicago football team from 1925 to 1927. He was captain of the 1927 team and won the 1927 Chicago Tribune ...

, Chicago (AP-3; UP-3; WE-2) *

Robert Reitsch Robert Reitsch (January 11, 1906 – September 4, 1998) was an American college football player. A prominent Center (gridiron football), center, he was the Captain (sports), captain of the national champion 1927 Illinois Fighting Illini football ...

, Illinois (NANA; CEP-2; INS-3; NYS-2; BE-3; LP-1; WE-3) * Charles Howe, Princeton (CEP-1) * John McCreery, Stanford (UP-2) *

Elvin Butcher Elvin Oscar Butcher (February 9, 1907 – June 6, 1957) was a college football and basketball player for the Tennessee Volunteers of the University of Tennessee. University of Tennessee Football Butcher was a prominent football player for Rober ...

, Tennessee (CEP-3; INS-2)

Quarterbacks

Morley Drury Morley E. Drury (February 15, 1903 – January 21, 1989), nicknamed "The Noblest Trojan of Them All," was a quarterback for the University of Southern California. College career A graduate of Long Beach Polytechnic High School, Drury was a promin ...

, USC (CFHOF) (AAB; AP-1 b UP-1; COL-1; INS-1 b NEA; CP-1; CEP-1; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-1; LP-1; WE-1) *

Bill Spears William Douglas Spears (August 31, 1906 – December 31, 1992) known as "Bounding Bill Spears" was an American football player and stand-out quarterback for Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt Commodores football teams from 1925 to 1927. Spears was elected ...

, Vanderbilt (CFHOF) (AP-1; UP-2; INS-1; NANA; CP-2; CEP-2; HE-3; LP-2; WE-2) * Harold Almquist, Minnesota (AP-3) * Jack Connor, NYU (HE-2; INS-2; NYS-2; BE-2; LP-2) *

Gerald Mann Gerald C. Mann (January 13, 1907 – January 6, 1990) was an American football player and the Texas Attorney General, attorney general of Texas from 1939 to 1944. Mann studied at Southern Methodist University, where he was twice named to all-con ...

, SMU (CFHOF) (BE-3) * Frederick M. Ellis, Tufts (CEP-3) *Dominic E. Engbarth, Texas

Halfbacks

, Pittsburgh (AAB; AP-1; UP-1; COL-1; INS-1; NEA; NANA; CP-1; CEP-1; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-1; LP-1; WE-1) * Red Cagle, Army (CFHOF) (AAB; AP-3; UP-3; COL-1; NANA; CEP-3; HE-2; WE-1) *

Christie Flanagan Christopher S. "Christie" Flanagan Jr. (December 8, 1905 – March 22, 1991), also known as Christy Flanagan in certain Notre Dame materials, was an All-American college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to ...

, Notre Dame (UP-1; NEA; CP-1; HE-3; INS-3; BE-1) * Alton Marsters, Dartmouth (AP-2; UP-2; HE-3; INS-2; NYS-2; BE-2; CEP-1; LP-2; WE-2) *

Glenn Presnell Glenn Emery "Press" Presnell (July 28, 1905 – September 13, 2004) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He set the NFL single-season scoring record in 1933 and led the league in total offense. He was the ...

, Nebraska (AP-2; UP-2; HE-2; INS-2; NYS-2; BE-2; CEP-2; LP-1; WE-2) *

Joel Hunt Oliver Joel "Lil' Joel" Hunt (October 11, 1905 – July 24, 1978) was American football and baseball player and coach of football. He played college football at Texas A&M University from 1925 to 1927 and served as the head football coach at the ...

, Texas A&M (CFHOF) (AP-2 b INS-3 b BE-3; CEP-2; LP-2; WE-3 b *

Chuck Carroll Charles Oliver Carroll (August 13, 1906 – June 23, 2003) was an American football player and attorney from Washington. Carroll played for Garfield High School and earned 17 varsity letters while there. He would be given the title of Garfield ...

, Washington (CFHOF) (AP-3) *

Louis Gilbert Louis Matthew Gilbert (September 15, 1906 – May 9, 1987) was an American football player. He played at the halfback position for the Michigan Wolverines football teams from 1925 to 1927. He was selected as a first-team All-Big Ten Confer ...

, Michigan (UP-3 b CP-2; BE-3; WE-3) * Walter "Swede" Gebert, Marquette (UP-3; INS-3; LP-2) * Bruce Caldwell, Yale (CP-2; HE-1; NYS-1; LP-2) * Bob Nork, Georgetown (CEP-3) * Johnny Roepke, Penn State (WE-3)

Fullbacks

Herb Joesting Herbert Walter Joesting (April 17, 1905 – October 1, 1963) was an American football player and coach. He was a consensus All-American fullback while playing for the Minnesota Golden Gophers in both 1926 and 1927. He also played three seasons i ...

, Minnesota (CFHOF) (AAB; AP-1; UP-1; COL-1; INS-1; NEA; CP-1; CEP-3; HE-1; NYS-1; BE-1; LP-1; WE-1) *

Herdis McCrary Herdis William "Bull" McCrary (June 9, 1904 – May 11, 1981) was an American football player. College career He played at the fullback position for the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team. In 1927, he was a member of the "Dream a ...

, Georgia (AP-2; UP-2; CEP-1; HE-3; INS-2; WE-2) * Bill Amos, Washington & Jefferson (AP-3; CEP-2; HE-2; BE-3) * Mike Miles, Princeton (NANA; NYS-2; BE-2; WE-3) * Pat Wilson, Washington (LP-2) *

Biff Hoffman Clifford Ellsworth "Biff" Hoffman (1904 – January 29, 1954) was an American football player. Early life Hoffman attended Petaluma High School in Petaluma, California, and then went on to attend Stanford University. Track and field At Stanfor ...

, Stanford (INS-3; LP-2) * Lou Tesreau, Washington (UP-3) * Frank Briante, NYU (CP-2)

Key

* Bold – Consensus All-American * -1 – First-team selection * -2 – Second-team selection * -3 – Third-team selection * CFHOF –

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

Official selectors

* AAB = All America Board * AP =

* COL = ''

'' as selected by

with assistance from well-known coaches, including

Glenn Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

Robert Zuppke Robert Carl Zuppke (July 2, 1879 – December 22, 1957) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign from 1913 until 1941, compiling a career college football record of 131–81 ...

Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

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 ...

* INS =

International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.

selected by Davis Walsh, INS sports editor * NEA =

* NANA =

* UP =

, selected based on consensus among UP newspapers throughout the country and prominent football coaches

Other selectors

* BE =

Billy Evans William George Evans (February 10, 1884 – January 23, 1956), nicknamed "The Boy Umpire", was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1906 to 1927. He became, at age 22, the youngest umpire in majo ...

with the assistance of "100 of the leading football experts of the country" * CP =

Central Press Association The Central Press Association was American newspaper syndication company based in Cleveland, Ohio. It was in business from 1910 to 1971. Originally independent, it was a subsidiary of King Features Syndicate from 1930 onwards. At its peak, the ...

, billed as the "Real" All-American team with selections based on fan input with cooperation from "hundreds of newspapers throughout the country" * CEP = Charles E. Parker for the ''New York Evening Telegram'' * HE = Hearst newspapers, consensus selection of more than 100 sports writers and editors at the Hearst newspapers * LP = Lawrence Perry * NYS = ''New York Sun'' "based on a canvas of 129 college teams throughout the country by the Sun's representatives" with gold watches being given to the members of the first eleven * WC =

Football Foundation * WE =

Walter Eckersall Walter Herbert "Eckie" Eckersall (June 17, 1883 – March 24, 1930) was an American college football player, official, and sportswriter for the ''Chicago Tribune''. He played for the Maroons of the University of Chicago, and was elected to the C ...

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