The 1889 College Football All-America team was the first

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 ...

. The team was selected by

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 ...

and published in ''This Week's Sports''. The team selected by Whitney in 1889 marked the origin of the "

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 ...

" teams that have since been picked in many collegiate sports. All eleven members of the 1889 All-America team played for either Harvard, Princeton or Yale, then known as the "Big Three" of college football. Some sources indicate that

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 ...

assisted Whitney with the selection of the 1889 All-American team, while others indicate that Camp did not become involved in the selection process until some time in the 1890s. The first All-America team included

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...

(then a player for Yale),

Pudge Heffelfinger William Walter "Pudge" Heffelfinger (December 20, 1867 – April 2, 1954), also spelled Hafelfinger, was an American football player and coach. He is considered the first athlete to play American football professionally, having been paid to pl ...

(who later became the first professional football player), "Snake" Ames (who set a college scoring record with 730 points),

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

(second cousin, twice removed of the writer of the same name),

Arthur Cumnock Arthur James Cumnock (February 12, 1868 – June 8, 1930) was an American football player. He and Amos Alonzo Stagg were selected as the ends on the first College Football All-America Team in 1889. Cumnock invented the first nose guard. He ...

(described as the greatest Harvard football player of all time in 1913), and

Roscoe Channing Roscoe H. Channing, Jr. (January 7, 1868 – April 1, 1961) was an All-American football player, member of the Rough Riders and mining executive. Channing was an All-American halfback for Princeton University. He was one of eleven players sele ...

(who later served with

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

in the

Rough Riders The Rough Riders was a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one to see combat. The United States Army was small, understaffed, and diso ...

Profiles of the 1889 All-America Eleven

(1862–1965): Yale's All-American

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

, Stagg became football coach at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

from 1892 to 1932 and the University of the Pacific from 1933 to 1946. *

(1867–1954): Yale's

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

, "Pudge" Heffelfinger was a native of Minnesota who was considered the greatest lineman of his time. Heffelfinger was paid $500 in 1892 to play for the

Allegheny Athletic Association The Allegheny Athletic Association was an athletic club that fielded the first ever professional American football player and later the first fully professional football team. The organization was founded in 1890 as a regional athletic club in A ...

, making him the first professional football player. He was one of the charter inductees into the

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 ...

. *

Knowlton Ames Knowlton Lyman "Snake" Ames (May 27, 1868 – December 23, 1931) was an American football player and coach. He played for Princeton University from 1886 to 1889, and the Chicago Athletic Association, in 1892. Playing for the Princeton Tigers, Am ...

(1868–1931): A native of Chicago, Princeton's All-America fullback "Snake" Ames set an unofficial collegiate scoring record in his time with 730 points, including 62 touchdowns and 176 points after touchdown. Ames is credited with being the first player to execute a fake punt and part of the first team to fully develop the " power sweep." Ames moved west to coach

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

from 1891 to 1892. *

Hector Cowan Hector William "Hec" Cowan (July 12, 1863 – October 19, 1941) was an American football player and coach, and an ordained Presbyterian minister. He played college football at Princeton University from 1885 to 1889. He was team captain for Pri ...

(1863–1941): Princeton's tackle, "Hec" Cowan helped lead the 1889 Princeton team to a perfect 10–0 record. Pudge Heffelfinger later said of Cowan, "He had the strongest shoulders and arms I've ever been up against and his stubby legs drove like pistons when he carried the ball. Hector could carry a couple of tacklers on his back, yet he was plenty fast in the open." He later served as the coach at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

from 1894 to 1896. *

(1871–1961): Princeton's

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, Poe was named after his relative and celebrated poet

.("Edgar Allan Poe 1891 was quarterback and captain in his junior and senior years. He was named All-American in 1889.") After Princeton beat Harvard, 41–15, a Harvard man reportedly asked a Princeton alumnus whether Poe was related to the great Edgar Allan Poe. According to the story, "the alumnus looked at him in astonishment and replied, 'He is the great Edgar Allan Poe.'" Poe graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

and later served as the Attorney General of the State of Maryland from 1911 to 1915. *

(1868–1930): Harvard's Cumnock was known as a fierce tackler and has been ranked by one author as perhaps the greatest player in that school's long football tradition. Cumnock later went into the cotton mill business and was the treasurer of one of the largest corporations in New England. *

(1868–1961): Princeton's halfback Channing later served with

in the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

. For many years, he was the President of Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Company, a copper mining company in

Flin Flon Flin Flon (pop. 5,185 in 2016 census; 4,982 in Manitoba and 203 in Saskatchewan) is a mining city, located on a correction line on the border of the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with the majority of the city located within ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, Canada. * Charles O. Gill (1868–1959): Yale's Gill later coached at the University of California in 1894.

Team lineup by position

;Ends *

, Yale (College Football Hall of Fame) *

, Harvard ;Tackles *

, Princeton (College Football Hall of Fame) * Charles O. Gill, Yale ;Guards *

, Yale (College Football Hall of Fame) * John Cranston, Harvard ;Center * William George, Princeton ;Quarterback *

, Princeton ;Halfbacks *

, Princeton * James P. Lee, Harvard ;Fullback *

, Princeton (College Football Hall of Fame)

Gallery of 1889 All-Americans

File:Roscoe Channing.jpg, Roscoe Channing File:Arthur Cumnock.jpg, Arthur Cumnock File:Charles Gill.jpg, Charles Gill File:John Corbett (Camp).jpg,

John Corbett John Joseph Corbett Jr. (born May 9, 1961) is an American actor and country music singer. On television, he is best known for his roles as Chris Stevens on ''Northern Exposure'' (1990–1995), Aidan Shaw on ''Sex and the City'' (2000–2003), ...

File:Edgar Allan Poe (Maryland attorney general).jpg, Edgar Allan Poe File:HectorCowan-Princeton1889.jpg, Hector Cowan

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