College Football All - America Team The College Football All - America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions . The original usage of the term " All - America " seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All - America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in " This Week ' s Sports " in association with football pioneer Walter Camp . Camp took over the responsibility for picking the All - America team and was recognized as the official selector in the early years of the 20th Century . NCAA recognition . In general . As of 2009 , the College Football All - America Team is composed of the following College Football All - American first teams : Associated Press ( AP ) , Football Writers Association of America ( FWAA ) , American Football Coaches Association ( AFCA ) , Walter Camp Foundation ( WCFF ) , " The Sporting News " ( " TSN " ) , " Sports Illustrated " ( " SI " ) , " Pro Football Weekly " ( " PFW " ) , ESPN , CBS Sports ( CBS ) , " College Football News " ( " CFN " ) , Rivals . com , and Scout . com . Consensus All - Americans . As of 2009 , the NCAA recognizes the All - America teams selected by the AP , AFCA , FWAA , Sporting News , and the WCFF to determine consensus All - Americans . At least three of these organizations have to select a player in order for him to receive the " consensus " honor . If a player is named an All - American by all five organizations , he receives the " unanimous consensus " status . The programs with the most " Unanimous Consensus All - Americans " are the University of Oklahoma and University of Notre Dame , tied with 31 all - time . Individual All - Americans . There have been 2 , 868 players from 156 colleges and universities since 1889 who were selected to at least one All - American first team . Only three players have earned that honor four times : They are : Selectors . Associated Press . The Associated Press has a panel of sportswriters who vote to determine the AP All - America Team . It has selected an All - America team since 1925 . AFCA . The American Football Coaches Association ( AFCA ) has selected an All - America team every year since 1945 . It is often referred to as the " Coaches ' All - America Team " . The Selection Process is an All - America Selection Committee is made up of three head coaches from each of the AFCA ' s nine I - A ( Bowl Division ) districts , one of whom serves as a district chairman , along with another head coach who serves as the chairman of the selection committee . The coaches in each district are responsible for ranking the top players in their respective districts , that information , along with ballots submitted by FBS head coaches , are used to select the AFCA FBS Coaches ’ All - America Team . The Coaches ’ All - America Team has been sponsored by various entities throughout the years but it is now under its own banner , the AFCA . These are the sponsors / publishers of the team throughout the years . 1945 - 47 : Published in " Saturday Evening Post " 1948 - 56 : Published in " Collier ' s " 1957 - 59 : General Mills 1960 - 93 : Eastman Kodak 1994 : Schooner ' s International 1995 - 96 : AFCA 1997 - 1999 : Burger King 2000 – present : AFCA FWAA . The Football Writers Association of America ( FWAA ) Team , the second longest continuously published team in college football , has been a staple of the college football scene since 1944 . It is sometimes referred to as the " Writers ' All - America Team " . The FWAA has selected an All - America team with the help of its members and an All - America Committee which represents all the regions in the country . Some who have helped to select this team over the years : Mark Blaudschun , Grantland Rice , Bert McGrane , Blackie Sherrod , Furman Bisher , Pat Harmon , Fred Russell , Edwin Pope , Murray Olderman , Paul Zimmerman . The All - America team is selected by a committee of writers representing all conferences and regions of the NCAA . The Writers ' Team has been highlighted in various media forums . From 1946 - 70 , LOOK Magazine published the FWAA team and brought players and selected writers to New York City for a celebration . During that 25 - year period , the FWAA team was introduced on national television shows by Bob Hope , Steve Allen , Perry Como and others . After LOOK folded , the FWAA started a long association with NCAA Films ( later known as NCAA Productions ) , which produced a 30 - minute television show and sold it to sponsors . The team was part of ABC Television ' s 1981 College Football Series . From 1983 - 90 , the team was either on ABC or ESPN , and since 1991 has returned to the national spotlight on ABC . The corporate sponsor for the Writers ' team is AT & T , after several years of Cingular being the sponsor . WCFF . The Walter Camp Football Foundation ( WCFF ) All - America team is selected by the head coaches and sports information directors of the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools and certified by UHY Advisors , a New Haven - based accounting firm . Walter Camp , " The Father of American Football , " first selected an All - America team in 1889 . The WCF claims an 80 % participation rate in the voting for its All - America team . Sporting News . " Sporting News " , formerly known as " The Sporting News " and known colloquially as " TSN " , have teams college football editors and staff select teams , which they have been doing since 1934 . From that year through the 1962 season TSN ' s All - America team was picked by a poll of sportswriters . Beginning in 1964 the team was selected by " professional scouts and observers " . The Sporting News cited the advent of two - platoon football as the need to go to that system . UPI . United Press International ( UPI ) is a defunct organization that selected players in a national poll of sportswriters and began selecting teams in 1925 as " United Press " . In 1958 , after it merged with the International News Service ( INS ) , it became United Press International . The INS had chosen teams since 1913 . UPI continued to choose an All - America team , based on a poll of sportswriters , through the 1996 season . Central Press . The Central Press Association , a newspaper syndicate based in Cleveland , polled team school captains for its " Captain ' s All - America Team " Newspaper Enterprise Association . Another media group who polled writers and players to compose its team . It ran from 1924 through 1996 . Others . " ABC Sports " , " ESPN " and " CNN " - " Sports Illustrated " , " College Football News " , CBSSports . com , " Time " Magazine ; and many others also select All - America teams . " Time " Magazine ' s selected All - America teams from 1956 through 1976 . ESPN ' s selections are made by veteran college football writer Ivan Maisel . Maisel ' s began selecting an All - America team for ESPN . com in 2002 . CBS Sports . com is voted on by writers , producers and staff of CBS Sports . Two of the newest , seemingly driven by the internet , are Scout . com and Rivals . com . Division III . In 1999 , D3football . com began selecting an All - America team for Division III .