The 1983 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

players chosen by various organizations for All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

teams for the 1983 college football season. The

1983 Illinois Fighting Illini football team The 1983 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Jack Trudeau with 2,446 passing yards, ...

won the conference championship and had seven players selected as first-team player by either 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 ...

United Press International 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 20t ...

. Iowa followed with six first-team selections, including quarterback

Chuck Long Charles Franklin Long Jr. (born February 18, 1963) is a former American football player and coach who is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Dallas Renegades of the XFL. He played quarterback in college at Iowa for Hayden F ...

and linebacker

Larry Station Larry W. Station Jr. (born December 5, 1963) is a former American football player. He played college football at the University of Iowa as a linebacker. He is Iowa's leader in career tackles and was twice named as a consensus first-team All-Am ...

. Michigan had five first-team players, including center

Tom Dixon Tom or Tommy Dixon may refer to: *Tom Dixon (American football) (born 1961), American football player * Tom Dixon (catcher) (1906–1982), Negro league baseball catcher * Tom Dixon (pitcher) (born 1955), Major League Baseball pitcher * Tom Dixon (C ...

and guard

Stefan Humphries Stefan Govan Humphries (born January 20, 1962) is a former American football player. He played college football at the University of Michigan, principally as an offensive guard, from 1980 to 1983. He also played five seasons in the National ...

Offensive selections

Quarterbacks

, Iowa (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Jack Trudeau Jack Francis Trudeau (born September 9, 1962) is a former professional American football player and morning show co-host on Fox Sports Radio. He was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the second round of the 1986 NFL Draft. A quarterback from ...

, Illinois (UPI-2)

Running backs

* Dwight Beverly, Illinois (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Keith Byars Keith Alan Byars (born October 14, 1963) is an American sports broadcaster and former American football fullback in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and New York Jets. Early life ...

, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1) * Rick Rogers, Michigan (UPI-2) * Thomas Rooks, Illinois (UPI-2) * Vaughn Broadnax, Ohio State (UPI-2)

Wide receivers

* Dave Moritz, Iowa (AP-1; UPI-1) * Duane Gunn, Indiana (AP-1; UPI-2) *

Al Toon Albert Lee Toon Jr. (born April 30, 1963) is a former professional American football wide receiver who played for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. A two-time First-team All-Big Ten pick at the Univers ...

, Wisconsin (UPI-1) * David Williams, Illinois (UPI-2)

Tight ends

* John Frank, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Tim Brewster Tim Brewster (born October 13, 1960) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the tight ends coach for the University of Colorado. He also served as the tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator for the North Carolina ...

, Illinois (UPI-2)

Centers

, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Joel Hilgenberg Joel Hilgenberg (born July 10, 1962 in Iowa City, Iowa) was an American football center in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints. Hilgenberg played college football at the University of Iowa and he is the brother of former cent ...

, Iowa (UPI-2)

Guards

, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Jim Juriga James Allen Juriga (born September 12, 1964) is a former guard who played three seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He started in Super Bowl XXIV for the Denver Broncos. After he finished his football career, he obtained his docto ...

, Illinois (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Joe Levelis Joseph J. Levelis (born January 6, 1961) is a former American football offensive tackle in the United States Football League (USFL) for the Oklahoma and Arizona Outlaws. He played college football at the University of Iowa. Early years Leveli ...

, Iowa (UPI-2) * Scott Zalenski, Ohio State (UPI-2)

Tackles

* Chris Babyar, Illinois (AP-1; UPI-1) *

John Alt John Michael Alt (born May 30, 1962) is a former professional American football offensive tackle in the National Football League. He played his entire NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs from 1984 to 1996. A graduate of Columbia Heights (MN) H ...

, Iowa (AP-1) * Mark Krerowicz, Ohio State (UPI-2) * Bill Roberts, Ohio State (UPI-2)

Defensive selections

Defensive linemen

* Mark Butkus, Illinois (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Paul Hufford Paul Hufford was a football player for the University of Iowa from 1982-1984. He was twice named All-Big Ten and was the first player to win the Big Ten’s Defensive Lineman of the Year award in 1984. Background Paul Hufford was born in Keokuk, ...

, Iowa (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Don Thorp Donald Kevin Thorp (born July 10, 1962 in Buffalo Grove, Illinois) is a former professional American football defensive lineman in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Kansas City Chiefs. He ...

, Illinois (AP-1; UPI-1) * Al Sincich, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-2) * Kevin Brooks, Michigan (UPI-1) * Keith Cruise, Northwestern (UPI-2) * Spencer Nelms, Ohio State (UPI-2) * Chris Scott, Purdue (UPI-2)

Linebackers

Carl Banks Carl E. Banks (born August 29, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played from 1984 to 1995 for the New York Giants, the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Br ...

, Michigan State (AP-1; UPI-1) *

James Melka James David Melka (born January 15, 1962) is a former linebacker in the National Football League. Biography Melka was born on January 15, 1962, in West Allis, Wisconsin. He attended West Allis Central High School where he was an All-America runn ...

, Wisconsin (AP-1; UPI-1) *

, Iowa (AP-1; UPI-1) * Rowland Tatum, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Mike Mallory Mike Mallory (born November 16, 1962) is an American football coach and a former player who is thSpecial Teams Coordinator for the Denver Broncos NFL football team in 2022. Before that, he most recently worked as assistant special teams coordin ...

, Michigan (UPI-2) * Carlton Rose, Michigan (UPI-2) * Peter Najarian, Minnesota (UPI-2) * Mike Winegrad, Illinois (UPI-2)

Defensive backs

* Craig Swoope, Illinois (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Evan Cooper Evan Cooper (born June 28, 1962) is a former American football player. He played college football as a defensive back at the University of Michigan from 1980 to 1983. He played professional football in the National Football League (NFL) as a Saf ...

, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-2) * Garcia Lane, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-2) * Phil Parker, Michigan State (UPI-1) *

Mike Stoops Michael Joseph Stoops (born December 13, 1961) is an American football coach and former player, who is the inside linebackers coach at the University of Kentucky. Stoops also served as the head football coach at the University of Arizona from 20 ...

, Iowa (UPI-1) * Mike Heaven, Illinois (UPI-2)

Special teams

Placekicker

Bob Bergeron Robert Damian Bergeron (born November 7, 1961) is a former American football placekicker. He grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and attended Bishop Luers High School. He played college football for the University of Michigan from 1980 to 1984. He w ...

, Michigan (AP-1) * Chris White, Illinois (UPI-1)

Punter

* John Kidd, Northwestern (AP-1; UPI-1) * Karl Edwards, Ohio State (UPI-2)

Key

Bold = Selected as a first-team player by both the media (AP) and coaches (UPI) AP =

, "selected by a panel of sports writers and broadcasters covering the conference football scene" UPI =

, selected by the Big Ten Conference coaches

References

{{All-Big Ten Conference football teams All-Big Ten Conference All-Big Ten Conference football teams