The 1973 Little All-America college football team, also known as the Small College All-America football team, is composed of college football players from small colleges and universities who were selected by 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. ne ...

(AP) as the best players at each position. For 1973, the AP selected three teams, each team having separate offensive and defensive platoons.

Walter Payton Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1953Although most sources at the time of his death gave Payton's birth year as 1954, reliable sources subsequently state he was born in 1953. – November 1, 1999) was an American football running back who played ...

, who went on to set NFL records for career rushing yards and

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s, was named to the second team as a running back. The first-team running backs were Billy "White Shoes" Johnson of Widener 1,496 rushing yards, 23 touchdowns), freshman

Wilbert Montgomery Wilbert Montgomery (born September 16, 1954) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine years with the Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions. He was also the running ...

of Abilene Christian (compiling a record 31 touchdowns in the regular season, 37 including post-season), and Mike Thomas of

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...

(1,741 rushing yards.

Kim McQuilken Kim Edgar McQuilken (born February 26, 1951) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins. Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, McQuilken played college football at ...

of Lehigh was the first-team quarterback. He completed 62.5% of his passes for 2,603 yards and 19 touchdowns. Defensive end

Ed "Too Tall" Jones Edward Lee Jones (born February 23, 1951), commonly known as Ed "Too Tall" Jones due to his height, is a former American football player who played 15 seasons (1974–1978, 1980–1989) in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys ...

from Tennessee State stood out on the defensive squad and was the No. 1 pick in the

1974 NFL Draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers to have ha ...

First team

Offense

* Quarterback -

(senior, 6'2", 205 pounds), Lehigh * Running back - Billy "White Shoes" Johnson (junior, 5'9", 175 pounds), Widener * Running back -

(freshman, 5'11", 190 pounds), Abilene Christian * Running back - Mike Thomas (junior, 5'11", 188 pounds),

* Wide receiver - Don Hutt (senior, 6'1", 194 pounds), Boise State * Tight end - Scott Garske (senior, 6'4", 240 pounds), Eastern Washington * Tackle - Steve Drongowski (senior, 6'0", 215 pounds), Wittenberg * Tackle - Henry Lawrence (senior, 6'4", 253 pounds), Florida A&M * Guard - Joe Kotval (senior, 6'3", 250 pounds), Buena Vista * Guard -

Herbert Scott Herbert Carnell Scott (born January 18, 1953) is a former American football guard and offensive tackle in the National Football League. He attended Floyd E. Kellam High School in Virginia Beach, and went on to star at the Virginia Union Unive ...

(junior, 6'3", 245 pounds), Virginia Union * Center - Mark King (junior, 6'3", 230 pounds), Troy State

Defense

* Defensive end -

(senior, 6'9", 264 pounds),

Tennessee State Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

* Defensive end - Thomas Henderson (junior, 6'4", 225 pounds), Langston * Defensive tackle -

Gary "Big Hands" Johnson Gary Lynn "Big Hands" Johnson (August 31, 1952 – August 4, 2010) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He was a four-time All-Pro and a four-time Pro Bowl selection. He p ...

(junior, 6'3", 261 pounds),

Grambling Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritag ...

* Defensive tackle -

Bill Kollar William Wallace Kollar (born November 27, 1952) is an American football coach and former player. Kollar played as a defensive tackle in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1974 to 1976, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1977 to 1981. Kollar ...

(senior, 6'4}, 251 pounds), Montana State * Middle guard - Glenn Fleming (sophomore, 6'0", 230 pounds), Northeast Louisiana * Linebacker -

Waymond Bryant Waymond Bryant (born July 28, 1952) is a former American football linebacker. He played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Bears. Biography Bryant was born in Dallas, Texas and attended Franklin D. Roosevelt Hi ...

(senior, 6'3", 235 pounds), Tennessee State * Linebacker - Eugene Simms (junior, 6'2", 228 pounds), Morgan State * Linebacker - Godwin Turk (senior, 6'3", 235 pounds), Southern * Defensive back -

Autry Beamon Autry Beamon Jr. (born November 12, 1953) is a former professional American football Safety (gridiron football position), safety who played for three National Football League (NFL) teams. College career Beamon played college football at Texas A ...

(junior, 6'2", 195 pounds), East Texas * Defensive back -

Leonard Fairley Leonard C. Fairley (born January 2, 1951) is a former American football cornerback who played one season with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Oilers in the seventh round of the 1974 NFL Draft. He pl ...

(senior, 6'0", 192 pounds), Alcorn A&M * Defensive back - Marty Kranz (senior, 6'2", 190 pounds), Mankato State

Second team

Offense

* QB - Clint Longley, Abilene Christian * RB - Boyce Callahan, Jacksonville State * RB -

, Jackson State * RB - Jimmy Smith, Northern Arizona * WR - Roger Carr, Louisiana Tech * TE - Bill Schlegel, Lehigh * T - Gregory Kindle, Tennessee State * T - John Passananti, Western Illinois * G - Phil Gustafson, Kearney State * G - Doug Lowrey, Arkansas State * C - Ed Paradis, Indiana (Pennsylvania)

Defense

* DE - Jay Buse, Linfield * DE - Adrian Gant, Livingston * DT -

Fred Dean Frederick Rudolph Dean (February 24, 1952 – October 14, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). A twice first-team All-Pro and a four-time Pro Bowler, he won two Super ...

, Louisiana Tech * DT - Levi Stanley, Hawaii * MG - Alan Klein, Southeastern Louisiana * LB - Terry Factor, Slippery Rock * LB - Greg Lee, Cal Poly * LB - Steve Nelson, North Dakota State * DB - Ralph Gebhardt, Rochester * DB - Jim Muir, Elon * DB - Mike Woodley, Northern Iowa

Third team

Offense

* QB - Prinson Poindexter, Livingston * RB - Nate Anderson, Eastern Illinois * RB - Tony Giglio, Lafayette * RB - Saul Ravanell, Nebraska-Omaha * WR - John Holland, Tennessee State * TE - Bernie Peterson, Linfield * T - Dave Clapham, Nevada-Reno * T - Jim Pietrzak, Eastern Michigan * G - Coy Gibson, Wofford * G - Thomas Saxson, North Carolina Central * C - R.W. Hicks, Humboldt State

Defense

* DE - Ed McAleny, UMass * DE - Lawerence Pillers, Alcorn A&M * DT - Glenn Ellis, Elon * DT - John Teerlinck, Western Illinois * MG - Sam Moser, Sioux Falls * LB - Greg Blankenship, Hayward State * LB - Joe McNeely, Louisiana Tech * LB - Charles Battle, Grambling * DB - William Bryant, Grambling * DB - Keith Krebsbach, North Dakota State * DB - Anthony Leonard, Virginia Union

References

{{Little All-America college football teams

Little All-America college football team The Little All-America team is an honor given annually to the best small college players at their respective positions. The first Little All-America team for college football, selected with assistance from reporters in every region, was announc ...

Little All-America college football teams

First team

Offense

Defense

Second team

Offense

Defense

Third team

Offense

Defense

See also

References