The 1971 Little All-America college football 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 from small colleges and universities who were selected by the Associated Press (AP) as the best players at each position. For 1971, the AP selected three teams, each team having separate offensive and defensive platoons. First-team quarterback Gary Wichard of C.W. Post was a prolific passer and the son of a New York millionaire.

Terry Metcalf Terrance Randolph Metcalf (born September 24, 1951) is a former American football running back who played six total seasons in the National Football League (NFL), five of them with the St. Louis Cardinals and one with the Washington Redskin ...

of Long Beach State was a first-team running back in both 1970 and 1971. Running back Gardy Kahoe was the main offensive weapon for the AP/UPI small college champion

1971 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team The 1971 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team was an American football team that represented the University of Delaware as an independent during the 1971 NCAA College Division football season. In their seventh season under head coach Tubby ...

. He rushed for 1,216 yards and 23 touchdowns in 10 regular season games. He added another 112 yards in the Boardwalk Bowl.

First team

Offense

* Quarterback - Gary Wichard (senior, 6'2", 217 pounds), C.W. Post * Running back- Gardy Kahoe (senior, 6'2", 220 pounds), Delaware * Running back -

Bruce Laird Bruce Malcolm Laird (born 21 November 1950) is a former Western Australian and Australian cricketer. He was an opening batsmen who played in 21 Test matches and 23 One Day Internationals. He also played 13 "Supertests" in World Series Cricket. ...

(senior, 6'1", 200 pounds), American International * Running back -

(junior, 6'0", 185 pounds),

Long Beach State California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

* End -

Jerome Barkum Jerome Barkum (born July 18, 1950) is a former wide receiver and tight end in the National Football League. He played 12 years with New York Jets.

(senior, 6'3", 215 pounds), Jackson State * End -

Eldridge Small Eldridge Small (August 2, 1949 – May 11, 2015) was an American football cornerback who played with the National Football League's (NFL) New York Giants from 1972 to 1974. Small was born in Houston, Texas, and attended Wheatley High School bef ...

(senior, 6'1", 190 pounds), Texas A&I * Tackle -

Lionel Antoine Lionel Sylvester Antoine (August 31, 1950 – December 7, 2021) was an American football offensive tackle for the Chicago Bears in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Southern Illinois University. He was drafted ...

(senior, 6'7", 245 pounds), Southern Illinois * Tackle - Ron Mikolajczyk (junior, 6'3", 270 pounds),

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

* Guard - Wayne Dorton (senior, 6'1", 248 pounds), Arkansas State * Guard - Solomon Freelon (senior, 6'4", 256 pounds), Grambling * Center -

John Hill John Hill may refer to: Business * John Henry Hill (1791–1882), American businessman, educator and missionary * John Hill (planter) (1824–1910), Scottish-born American industrialist and planter * John Hill (businessman) (1847–1926), Austral ...

(senior, 6'2", 230 pounds),

Lehigh Lehigh may refer to: Places United States *Lehigh, Iowa *Lehigh, Kansas *Lehigh, Oklahoma *Lehigh, Barbour County, West Virginia *Lehigh, Wisconsin *Lehigh Acres, Florida *Lehigh Township (disambiguation) *Lehigh Valley, a region in eastern Penns ...

Defense

* Defensive end - Kelvin Korver (senior, 6'7", 270 pounds), Northwestern (Iowa) * Defensive end - John Mendenhall (senior, 6'0", 250 pounds), Grambling * Defensive tackle - Larry Brooks (senior, 6'3", 265 pounds), Virginia State * Defensive tackle - Steve Williams (senior, 6'5", 262 pounds), Western Carolina * Middle guard - Sammy Gellerstedt (senior, 5'9", 205 pounds),

* Linebacker - Harry Gooden (senior, 6'5", 220 pounds), Alcorn A&M * Linebacker - Jim LeClair (senior, 6'3", 220 pounds), North Dakota * Linebacker - Jim Youngblood (junior, 6'3", 235 pounds), Tennessee Tech * Defensive back - Cliff Brooks (senior, 6'2", 203 pounds), Tennessee State * Defensive back -

Levi Johnson Levi Johnson (born October 30, 1950) is a former American football cornerback who played five seasons for the Detroit Lions in the National Football League (NFL). He had 21 interceptions in less than five years as an NFL player, returning three ...

(junior, 6'4", 190 pounds), Texas A&I * Defensive back -

Dennis Meyer John Dennis Meyer (born April 8, 1950) is a former professional American football defensive back and coach. An All-American defensive back at Arkansas State, Meyer signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1973, playing safety and punt return ...

(senior, 5'11", 188 pounds), Arkansas State

Second team

Offense

* Quarterback - Joe Gilliam, Tennessee State * Running back - Dave Bigler, Morningside * Running back - Ole Gunderson, St. Olaf * Running back -

Calvin Harrell Calvin Harrell (September 7, 1949 – 1994) was a college American football and professional Canadian football running back, ranking among the top players in Arkansas State history. During Harrell's college career with the Indians (now renamed Re ...

, Arkansas State * End - Jeff Baker, U.S. International * End- Rick Thone, Arkansas Tech * Tackle - Rodney Cason, Angelo State * Tackle - Bruce Nichols, Jacksonville State * Guard - Gene Macken, South Dakota * Guard - John Nuttal, Northern Arizona * Center - Charlie Powell, McNeese State

Defense

* Defensive end - Grail Kister, Northern Colorado * Defensive end - Ken Sanders, Howard Payne * Defensive tackle - Clinton Brown, Hayward State * Defensive end - Dave Pureifory, Eastern Michigan * Middle guard - Roosevelt Manning, Northeastern Oklahoma * Linebacker - Whitey Baun, Wittenberg * Linebacker - Tim Kearney, Northern Michigan * Linebacker - Greg Wright, Troy State * Defensive back - Mike Holmes, Texas Southern * Defensive back - Dan Martinsen, North Dakota * Defensive back - Tom Rezzuti, Northeastern

Third team

Offense

* Quarterback - Ken Lantrip, Louisiana Tech * Running back - Don Aleksiweicz, Hobart * Running back - Don Heater, Montana Tech * Running back - Charles Jessamy, Kansas Wesleyan * End - Tom Hoffman, Idaho State * End - Kalle Konston, RPI * Tackle - Ron Haines, Rochester * Tackle -

Steve Okoniewski Steve Okoniewski (August 22, 1949 – February 25, 2024) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers, and St. Louis Cardi ...

, Montana * Guard - Fred Blackhurst, Westminster (Pennsylvania) * Guard - Jim Osborne, Southern * Center - Ron Sani, Santa Clara

Defense

* Defensive end - Dave Snesrud, Hamline * Defensive end - Jim Stone, Hawaii * Defensive tackle - Doug Cowan, Puget Sound * Defensive tackle - Theodore Washington, Mississippi Valley * Middle guard - Chris Richardson, Louisiana Tech * Linebacker - Pete Contaldi, Montclair State * Linebacker -

Sam Cvijanovich Sam Cvijanovich is a former linebacker in the Canadian Football League. Cvijanovich was a notable player for the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen during the 1971 NAIA Division II Football National Championship. He has been named “the hardest hitter I� ...

Cal Lutheran California Lutheran University (CLU, Cal Lutheran, or Cal Lu) is a private university in Thousand Oaks, California. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It opened in 1960 ...

* Linebacker - Mike Leidy, Hampden-Sydney * Defensive back - Ron Collier, Central Missouri * Defensive back - Saylor Fox, Newberry * Defensive back -

Bob Kroll Bob Kroll may refer to: * Bob Kroll (American football) (born 1950), defensive back with the Green Bay Packers * Bob Kroll (police officer) (born ), former president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis See also * Robert Henderson Cro ...

, Northern Michigan

References

{{Little All-America college football teams Little All-America college football team Little All-America college football team Little All-America college football teams