# Football Writers Association of America

The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media outlets. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game.
The FWAA works to govern areas that include game day operations, and strives for better working conditions for sports writers in college football press boxes, and deals with access issues to college athletes and coaches. The FWAA also sponsors scholarships for aspiring writers and an annual writing contest.
The FWAA is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the NCAA. The organization also selects the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner, the Outland Trophy winner, a freshman All-America team, and weekly defensive player of the week, as well as developing scholarship programs and surveys for better working conditions. From 1954 to 2013, the association awarded the Grantland Rice Trophy to the college football team they chose to be the National Champion.

## All-America Committees

The Football Writers Association of America All-America Committee selects the 25-man All-America Team and the winners of the Bronko Nagurski and Outland trophies. In the spring, the committee selects the FWAA All-America Watch List and the watch lists for both of the FWAA's major player awards. The FWAA has chosen an All-America Team annually since the 1944 season; it is the second longest continuously-published team in major college football.

### 2006 Committee
## Bert McGrane Award winners

Presented to a member of the FWAA for "outstanding contribution to the organization".
1974 Charley Johnson, Minneapolis Star 1975 Wilfrid Smith, Chicago Tribune 1976 Paul Zimmerman, Los Angeles Times 1977 Dick Cullum, Minneapolis Tribune 1978 Wilbur Evans, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association 1979 Tom Siler, Knoxville News-Sentinel 1980 Maury White, Des Moines Register 1981 Fred Russell, Nashville Banner 1982 Furman Bisher, Atlanta Journal 1983 John Mooney, Salt Lake Tribune 1984 Si Burick, Dayton News 1985 Blackie Sherrod, The Dallas Morning News 1986 Raymond Johnson, Nashville Tennessean 1987 Tim Cohane, Look Magazine 1988 Dave Campbell, Waco Tribune Herald 1989 Jim Brock, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association 1990 Jack Hairston, Gainesville Sun 1991 Murray Olderman, Newspaper Enterprise Association 1992 Volney Meece, The Daily Oklahoman 1993 Bob Hentzen, Topeka Capital Journal 1994 Edgar Allen, Nashville Journal 1995 Dick Herbert, Raleigh News & Observer 1996 Bob Hammel, Bloomington Herald-Times 1997 Bill Lumpkin, Birmingham Post-Herald 1998 Don Bryant, University of Nebraska 1999 Field Scovell, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association 2000 Jimmie McDowell, All-American Football Foundation 2001 Edwin Pope, Miami Herald 2002 Orville Henry, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 2003 Dan Foster, Greenville News 2004 Pat Harmon, Cincinnati Post 2005 Steve Richardson, FWAA Executive Director 2006 John Junker, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl 2007 Mark Blaudschun, Boston Globe 2008 Claude Felton, University of Georgia 2009 Tony Barnhart, Atlanta Journal-Constitution 2010 Tom Mickle, Florida Citrus Sports 2011 Beano Cook, ESPN/University of Pittsburgh 2012 Dave Sittler, Tulsa World 2013 Dick Weiss, New York Daily News 2014 Tim Tessalone, University of Southern California 2015 Steve Hatchell, National Football Foundation 2016 Ivan Maisel, ESPN.com 2017 Charlie Fiss, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association 2018 Steve Wieberg, USA Today (1982–2012) 2019 Blair Kerkhoff, The Kansas City Star 2020 Wally Hall, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 2021 John Heisler, University of Notre Dame 2022 Dennis Dodd, CBS Sports 2023 Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times 2024 Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman

## All-Time Teams

Selected by the Football Writers Association of America for the centennial year of college football in 1969. An Early Era team was chosen that featured Jim Thorpe, a modern team (1919–68) and a Quarter-Century team that was chosen in 1993, 25 years after the college football centennial celebration.

### 1919–1968 Modern Era All-America Team

E – Bennie Oosterbaan, Michigan
E – Don Hutson, Alabama L – Bronko Nagurski, Minnesota L – Bruiser Kinard, Mississippi L – Jim Parker, Ohio State L – Bob Suffridge, Tennessee
C – Mel Hein, Washington State B – Sammy Baugh, Texas Christian B – Jay Berwanger, Chicago B – Ernie Nevers, Stanford B – Red Grange, Illinois

### 1869–1918 Early Era All-America Team

E – Frank Hinkey, Yale
E – Huntington Hardwick, Harvard T – Josh Cody, Vanderbilt
T – Wilbur Henry, Washington and Jefferson G – Pudge Heffelfinger, Yale G – Truxtun Hare, Pennsylvania C – Germany Schulz, Michigan B – Jim Thorpe, Carlisle B – Elmer Oliphant, Purdue B – Willie Heston, Michigan B – Walter Eckersall, Chicago

## Awards sponsored

    See footnote
Currently the FWAA sponsors seven awards and those are affiliated with the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA).
* All-America and Freshman All-America Teams
* Bronko Nagurski Trophy
* Outland Trophy
* Grantland Rice Trophy
* Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year
* FedEx Orange Bowl Courage Award
* Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week

## Poll

Beginning in 2014, 26 members of the FWAA will vote in a new poll in partnership with the National Football Foundation. It is called the FWAA-NFF Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll.