| 16 December 2009
After Saturday's historic Heisman Trophy presentation, it looked as though the wave of honors for the Alabama football team might calm a bit before picking back up in early January.
Instead the 2009 Alabama football team has set a school and NCAA record by having six members named first team AP All-American.
It's been a year of historical accomplishment for the Tide. How historical? (I believe I heard someone ask) That's an interesting question...
Mark Ingram, Rolando McClain, Mike Johnson, Javier Arenas, Terrence Cody, and Leigh Tiffin were all announced as having made the first team All-American squad today. Just for good measure, Mark Barron was named to the third team.
Ingram and McClain were named All-American by each of five nationally recognized groups that name teams - AP, AFCA, FWAA, Sporting News, and the Walter Camp Foundation.
That gives Alabama 97 players who have been named first team All-Americans in school history. And in case you were wondering, here they are:
- W.T. 'Bully' VandeGraaff - 1915
- A.T.S. 'Pooley' Hubert - 1925
- Hoyt 'Wu' Winslett - 1926
- FredPickhard - 1926
- Tony Holm - 1929
- Fred Sington - 1929, 1930
- John Suther - 1930
- Johnny Cain - 1931, 1932
- Tom Hupke - 1933
- Millard 'Dixie' Howell - 1934
- Don Hutson - 1934
- Bill Lee - 1934
- Rily Smith - 1935
- Arthur 'Tarzan' White - 1936
- James L. 'Bubber' Nesbit - 1936
- Joe Kilgrow - 1937
- Leroy Monsky - 1937
- James Ryba - 1937
- Carey Cox - 1939
- Holt Rast - 1941
- Joe Domnaovich - 1942
- Don Whitmire - 1942
- Harry Gilmer - 1945
- Vaughn Mancha - 1945
- Ed Salem - 1950
- Bobby Marlow - 1952
- George Mason - 1954
- Billy Neighbors - 1961
- Lee Roy Jordan - 1962
- Wayne Freeman - 1964
- Dan Kearley - 1964
- Joe Namath - 1964
- David Ray - 1964
- Paul Crane - 1965
- Steve Sloan - 1965
- Richard Cole - 1966
- Cecil Dowdy - 1966
- Bobby Johns - 1966, 1967
- Ray Perkins - 1966
- Dennis Homan - 1967
- Kenny Stabler - 197
- Sam Gellerstedt - 1968
- Mike Hall - 1968
- Alvin Samples - 1969
- Johnny Musso - 1970, 1971
- John Hannah - 1971, 1972
- Jim Krapf - 1972
- John Mitchell - 1972
- Buddy Brown - 1973
- Woodrow Lowe - 1973, 1974, 1975
- Wayne Wheeler - 1973
- Leroy Cook - 1974, 1975
- Sylvester Croom - 1974
- Mike Washington - 1974
- Ozzie Newsome - 1977
- Barry Krauss - 1978
- Marty Lyons - 1978
- Jim Bunch - 1979
- Don McNeal - 1979
- Dwight Stephenson - 1979
- Thomas Boyd - 1980, 1981
- E.J. Junior - 1980
- Tommy Wilcox - 1981, 1982
- Jeremiah Castille - 1982
- Mike Pitts - 1982
- Cornelius Bennett - 1984, 1985, 1986
- John Hand - 1985
- Bobby Humphrey - 1986, 1987
- Van Tiffin - 1986
- Derrick Thomas - 1988
- Kermit Kendrick - 1988
- Larry Rose - 1988
- Keith McCants - 1989
- John Mangum - 1989
- Phillip Doyle - 1990
- Robert Stewart - 1991
- John Copeland - 1992
- Eric Curry - 1992
- Antonio Langham - 1992, 1993
- David Palmer - 1993
- Michael Proctor - 1993, 1994
- Jay Barker - 1994
- Kevin Jackson - 1996
- Michael Myers - 1996
- Dwayne Rudd - 1996
- Chris Samuels - 1999
- Shaun Alexander - 1999
- DeMeco Ryans - 2005
- Antoine Caldwell - 2008
- Terrence Cody - 2008, 2009
- Rashad Johnson - 2008
- Andre Smith - 2008
- Javier Arenas - 2009
- Mark Ingram - 2009
- Mike Johnson - 2009
- Rolando McClain - 2009
- Leigh Tiffin - 2009
These 97 guys have earned a total of 113 first team All-American selections, with 14 guys having been named twice. Terrence Cody has now joined that list that includes - Fred Sington, Johnny Cain, Bobby Johns, Johnny Musso, John Hannah, Woodrow Lowe, Leroy Cook, Thomas Boyd, Tommy Wilcox, Cornelius Bennett, Bobby Humphrey, Antonio Langham, and Michael Proctor. Amazingly enough, Bennett and Lowe were named All-American three times. This list of 14 guys includes six who have been named to the College Football Hall of Fame.
It is not hyperbole to say that this Alabama team is one win away from being in the argument for the greatest Bama team of all time. Really there would only be 15 or so teams that could stake a claim to being in that argument, but this group could have as good a case as any.
Think of it this way - if Bama wins in Pasadena:
- The Tide's 14 wins would be a school record, and tie the NCAA record for most wins in a season.
- Mark Ingram is Bama's first Heisman Trophy Winner
- Rolando McClain is Bama's second Butkus Award Winner
- Six first team All-Americans, including two unanimous All-Americans is a school and NCAA record
- Mark Ingram set the school's single season rushing record
- Leigh Tiffin set the school's single season and career scoring record
- Javier Arenas has already set the SEC record for career punt return yards, and has a real chance at the NCAA record
There are some Bama teams that have had more dominating defenses. There are some Bama teams that have had more prolific offenses. But ask yourself these two questions:
***Has any Bama team played a better game against a better opponent than the Tide did against Florida? January 2, 1993 vs. Miami is a quick entry into this argument, but considering the predestination of the Bama-Florida matchup, it would be tough to argue against two Saturdays ago.
***Has any Bama team ever lived up to the type of expectations that this team did? Teams that were defending national champs probably did, but it's a different world from a media standpoint now. Pressure is a totally different animal than it was 30 years ago. I'm not saying that it the pressure is worse (or less), just that it's a totally different beast.
I'm sure there are some folks out there with more experience (coughGlen55cough) that could probably chime into this debate. Feel free to do so yourself, even if you aren't as old as the hills.
Understand, though, that I'm not necessarily stating this team as the best at this point. There's still a whale of a game against a really good Texas team that has to be won before this can even really be a realistic conversation. And even if Bama brings the crystal ball home from California, I'm not certain that this team can claim the title of the best Bama team of all time.
Having said that, it's still two more full days (Friday) before begins practicing for the BCS National Championship Game, and there's no better time to have this type of discussion than during a lull.
So what say you? Where does this Bama team have the potential to rank among the all-time best Bama teams?
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