All - Pro All - Pro is a term mostly used in the NFL for the best players of each position during that season . It began as polls of sportswriters in the early 1920s . There are also 2nd Team All - Pros which connotes the runner - up at each position . The Associated Press NFL All - Pro Team . The Associated Press NFL All - Pro Team is an annual selection of the best players in the National Football League ( NFL ) by position as selected by a national panel of media members of the Associated Press . Unlike selection to the Pro Bowl ( all star game ) , votes are cast for outstanding players by position without consideration for whether the player competes in the American Football Conference ( AFC ) or National Football Conference ( NFC ) . The Associated NFL All - Pro Team is the longest running selection awards program in existence The First Team consists of the top one or two players at each position ; the Second Team consists of the runners - up at each position . One player is selected at quarterback , fullback , tight end , center , punter , place kicker , and kick returner , while two players are selected at running back , wide receiver , offensive tackle , offensive guard , outside linebacker , inside / middle linebacker , defensive end , defensive tackle , cornerback , and safety . The Associated Press and its Associated Press NFL All - Pro Team is the " All - Pro team " that is of most note , likely because it has been consecutively chosen since the 1940s . The United Press International All - Pro poll began then as well , yet beginning in 1970 UPI began to choose All - Conference teams , that is one each from two conferences in the National Football League , the AFC and NFC . UPI last chose those teams in 1996 . The Newspaper Enterprise Association began choosing All - Pro teams in 1954 and they ran though 1996 . The Pro Football Writers Association began choosing All - Pros in 1966 and continues today . In the early 1990s they began publishing their All - Pro team in Pro Football Weekly . In the case with the press polls , as are mentioned above , they are simply a poll of writers who are asked to select the top players at each position on a football squad . The votes are tallied and were published in the various newspaper syndicates , like the AP , UPI , NEA , etc . The Sporting News . " The Sporting News " published All - Conference teams beginning the 1950s . In 1980 it began choosing an All - Pro team , rather than two All - Conference teams . Since its teams are published in " Total Football : The Official Encyclopedia " of the NFL , they are recognized by the NFL and the Pro Football Hall of Fame . Newspaper Enterprise Association All - Pro Team . The Newspaper Enterprise Association All - Pro team was different than the press polls . It was created by Murray Olderman in 1954 purporting to be the " Player ' s All - Pro Team " as it was a poll of NFL players themselves . This poll last published in 1997 . Pro Football Writers Association . This All - pro team began in 1966 and is still released each year . Now , it is released in Pro Football Weekly . It is a poll of the members of the Pro Football Writers Association and is considered a " press poll " . Additionally , Pro Football Weekly has selected All - AFC and All - NFC teams since 1970 . Those are the choices of the editors and writers of the magazine . United Press International . Also a " press poll " . It began in the 1930s and continued until 1969 . In 1970 UPI began selecting All - AFC and All - NFC teams . Those ran though 1996 .