The 1996 All-America college football teamis composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1996. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognizes seven selectors as "official" for the 1996 season. They are: (1) the Associated Press (AP), (2) the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), (3) Football News, (4) the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) selected by the nation's football writers; (5) The Sporting News (TSN); the United Press International (UPI) - in its last year as a selector - selected based on the votes of sports writers at UPI newspapers; and the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WC).

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 such a list selected by football pioneer Walter Camp in the 1890s. The NCAA has officially recognized All-Americans selected by over a changing roster of over 20 organizations. In 1995, the official selectors were the AP, UPI, AFCA, FWAA, WCFF, TSN, and FN to determine Consensus All-Americans.

The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), the oldest All-American college football selection at the time and once an official selector, also selected a team - the last one they selected.

A player is named to the Consensus team if they are selected first team by a majority of the recognized All-America teams, in this case 4. If no player at a position meets that majority threshold, a player can still qualify by earning first-team honors from at least two of the designated selectors. Second- and third-team honors are used as tie-breakers, and if a true tie remains, all tied players are included.

Offense

Quarterback Danny Wuerffel, Florida (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP-1, AFCA-Coaches, Walter Camp, TSN, FN, NEA-1) Jake Plummer, Arizona St. (AP-2, FWAA-Writers, NEA-2) Peyton Manning, Tennessee (AP-3)

Running backs Byron Hanspard, Texas Tech (AP-1, AFCA-Coaches, FWAA-Writers, Walter Camp, TSN, FN) Troy Davis, Iowa State (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP-1, FWAA-Writers, Walter Camp, TSN, FN, NEA-1) Warrick Dunn, Florida St. (AP-2, FWAA-Writers, NEA-1) Darnell Autry, Northwestern (AP-2, AFCA-Coaches, NEA-2) Ron Dayne, Wisconsin (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP-3) Corey Dillon, Washington (AP-3) Tiki Barber, Virginia (NEA-2)

Wide receivers Marcus Harris, Wyoming (AP-1, AFCA-Coaches, FWAA-Writers, Walter Camp, FN, NEA-1) Ike Hilliard, Florida (AP-3, AFCA-Coaches, FWAA-Writers, Walter Camp, FN, NEA-2) Reidel Anthony, Florida (AP-1, TSN, NEA-2) Rae Carruth, Colorado (AP-2, TSN, NEA-1) Keith Poole, Arizona State (AP-2) Kevin Lockett, Kansas St. (AP-3)

Tight end David LaFleur, LSU (AP-3, Walter Camp, NEA-1) Tony Gonzalez, California (AP-2, TSN, FN, NEA-2) Itula Mili, BYU (AFCA-Coaches) Pat Fitzgerald, Texas (AP-1)

Guards/tackles Orlando Pace, Ohio St. (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP-1, AFCA-Coaches, FWAA-Writers, Walter Camp, TSN, FN, NEA-1) Juan Roque, Arizona St. (AP-1, AFCA-Coaches, FWAA-Writers, Walter Camp, FN, NEA-1) Benji Olson, Washington (AP-1, TSN, FN) Scott Sanderson, Washington State (AP-3, TSN, NEA-2) Chris Naeole, Colorado (AP-1, AFCA-Coaches, Walter Camp, FN, NEA-1) Dan Neil, Texas (AP-2, AFCA-Coaches, FWAA-Writers, Walter Camp, TSN, NEA-1) Steve Scifres, Wyoming (AP-2, FWAA-Writers, NEA-2) Chris Dishman, Nebraska (AP-2) Walter Jones, Florida St. (AP-2) Ben Kaufman, Texas Tech (AP-3) Adam Meadows, Georgia (AP-3) Jerry Wunsch, Wisconsin (AP-3) Jamie Nails, Florida A&M (NEA-2) Paul Wiggins, Oregon (NEA-2)

Center Aaron Taylor, Nebraska (AP-2, FWAA-Writers, Walter Camp, FN, NEA-1) Rod Payne, Michigan (AFCA-Coaches) K. C. Jones, Miami (Fla.) (AP-1) Billy Conaty, Virginia Tech (TSN) Jeff Mitchell, Florida (AP-3) Ryan Tucker, Texas Christian (NEA-2)

Defense

Linemen Grant Wistrom, Nebraska (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP-1, AFCA-Coaches, FWAA-Writers, TSN, FN, NEA-1) Reinard Wilson, Florida St. (AP-1, AFCA-Coaches, Walter Camp, FWAA-Writers, NEA-1) Peter Boulware, Florida St. (AP-1, FWAA-Writers, TSN, FN, NEA-1) Mike Vrabel, Ohio State (AP-2, AFCA-Coaches, Walter Camp, NEA-2) Derrick Rodgers, Arizona St. (AP-1, FWAA-Writers, NEA-1) Jared Tomich, Nebraska (AP-2, Walter Camp, NEA-2) Cornell Brown, Virginia Tech (AP-2, Walter Camp, NEA-2) Michael Myers, Alabama (TSN) Tarek Saleh, Wisconsin (FN) William Carr, Michigan (AP-2) Greg Ellis, North Carolina (AP-3) Leonard Little, Tennessee (AP-3) Darrell Russell, USC (AP-3, NEA-2)

Linebackers Canute Curtis, West Virginia (AP-1, AFCA-Coaches-DL, FWAA-Writers, TSN, FN, NEA-1) Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP-1, AFCA-Coaches, FWAA-Writers, Walter Camp, FN, NEA-1) Jarrett Irons, Michigan (AP-1, AFCA-Coaches, Walter Camp, NEA-2) Matt Russell, Colorado (AP-1, FWAA-Writers, Walter Camp, TSN) Jason Chorak, Washington (AP-3 {as DL], TSN, FN) Dwayne Rudd, Alabama (AP-2, AFCA-Coaches) Anthony Simmons, Clemson (AP-3, TSN) Keith Mitchell, Texas A&M (AP-3, FN) Andy Katzenmoyer, Ohio St. (AP-2) Brian Simmons, North Carolina (AP-2) Takeo Spikes, Auburn (AP-2) Tyrus McCloud, Louisville (AP-3) Antwaune Ponds, Syracuse (AP-3) James Farrior, Virginia (NEA-2)

Backs Chris Canty, Kansas St. (AP-1, AFCA-Coaches, FWAA-Writers, Walter Camp, TSN, FN, NEA-1) Dré Bly, North Carolina (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP-1, FWAA-Writers, Walter Camp, TSN, NEA-1) Charles Woodson, Michigan (College Football Hall of Fame) (AP-1, FWAA-Writers, NEA-1) Shawn Springs, Ohio St. (AP-2, AFCA-Coaches, Walter Camp, FN, NEA-2) Kevin Jackson, Alabama (AP-1, AFCA-Coaches, FWAA-Writers, Walter Camp, TSN, FN, NEA-1) Kim Herring, Penn State (AP-2, TSN, NEA-2) Kevin Abrams, Syracuse (AFCA-Coaches) Sam Madison, Louisville (AP-3, FN, NEA-2) Bryant Westbrook, Texas (AP-2, NEA-2) Kenny Wheaton, Oregon (AP-2) Eric Allen, Indiana (AP-3) Ronde Barber, Virginia (AP-3) Steve Rosga, Colorado (AP-3)

Specialists

Placekicker Marc Primanti, N.C. St. (AP-1, FWAA-Writers, TSN, FN, NEA-1) Cory Wedel, Wyoming (AFCA-Coaches, Walter Camp) Rafael Garcia, Virginia (AP-2) Damon Shea, Nevada (AP-3) Phil Dawson, Texas (NEA-2)

Punter Noel Prefontaine, San Diego St. (AP-1, FWAA-Writers, NEA-2) Brad Maynard, Ball State (AP-2, AFCA, Coaches, Walter Camp, NEA-1) Bill Marrinangle, Vanderbilt (TSN) Toby Gowin, North Texas (AP-3)

All-purpose / kick returners Tim Dwight, Iowa (FWAA-Writers) Kevin Faulk, LSU (AP-1) Terry Battle, Arizona St. (AP-2, TSN) Beau Morgan, Air Force (AP-3)

See also 1996 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team 1996 All-Big 12 Conference football team 1996 All-Big Ten Conference football team 1996 All-Pacific-10 Conference football team 1996 All-SEC football team

References