1931 College Football All-America Team

The 1931 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1931. The organizations that chose the teams included: Associated Press, United Press, Collier's Weekly/Grantland Rice, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Hearst/INS, Central Press, and College Humor.

The only unanimous All-American selection in 1931 was Tulane's Gerald “Jerry” Dalrymple.

NCAA consensus All-American team

The following players make up the consensus All-American team recognized in the NCAA All-American guide.

Proliferation of All-American teams

[
thumb|180px|right|Damon Runyon described the proliferation of All-American teams as a virulent plague.] In 1931, Damon Runyon wrote a column about the proliferation of “All-America” teams. He noted: “The ‘All’ boys are it, tooth and nail. They are ‘All’-ing North, South East and West. They will wind up ‘All’-Americaing, the most virulent form of the ‘All’ plague that besets us every Winter. The late Walter Camp little realized what he was bringing upon the country . . . At the moment, Mr. Camp probably had no idea that he was sowing the seed of a fearful pestilence.”cite news|author=Runyon, Damon|title=Runyon Makes One Selection for ‘All’ Eleven|publisher=Chester Times|date=1931-12-03] Runyon noted that Camp’s word was viewed as gospel, but with his passing “the rush to fill his shoes was prodigious,” and the “’All’ business became a national obsession.”

All-Americans of 1931

Key

Bold = unanimous first-team All-American selection
"Italics" = consensus first-team All-American selection

Selectors recognized by NCAA in consensus determinations

Associated Press [cite news|title=All Sections of Country Represented on Team; National Honors Given 1931 Grid Star|publisher=Reno Evening Gazette|date=1931-12-05]
UP = United Press [cite news|author=McLemore, Henry|title=United Press Selects Stellar All-American|publisher=The Piqua Daily Call (Ohio)|date=1931-12-04]
COL = Collier's Weekly as selected by Grantland Rice [cite news|title=Munn Placed on Rice’s All-American Team: Rentner and Morrison Get Honor Posts|publisher=The Evening Tribune (Albert Lea, Minn.)|date=1931-12-18]
NEA = Newspaper Enterprise Association [cite news|title=Dalrymple Highest Vote-Getter In NEA Board’s All-American Team|publisher=The Daily News (Frederick, Md.)|date=1931-12-14]
INS = International News Service, the wire service of the Hearst newspapers [cite news|author=Frick, Ford|title=Schwartz and Dalrymple Most Popular Choices on ‘Hearst All-American’|publisher=Chester Times|date=1931-12-05]

Other selectors
CP = Central Press, also known as the Captain's Poll, selected by a poll of the captains of the major football teams [cite news|author=Bitt, Bill (Central Sports Editor)|title=Real 1931 All-American Team Selected by College Captains|publisher=The Evening Independent (Massillon, Ohio)|date=1931-12-09]
WCFF = Walter Camp Football Foundation [cite web|title=Walter Camp Football Foundation All-American Selections|url=http://waltercamp.org/index.php/teams_and_awards/|publisher=Walter Camp Football Foundation]
HSM = All-American team selected by 18,006 fans through nation-wide contest sponsored by clothier Hart, Schaffner and Marx [cite news|title=Mythical Team Nominated by Fans Announced|publisher=The Muscatine Journal and News-Tribune|date=1931-12-11]
CH = College Humor magazine [cite news|title=All-America Selected by Coll. Humor|publisher=The Greeley Daily Tribune (Colo.)|date=1932-12-31]
LP = selected by Lawrence Perry, a former Princetonian who wrote a nationally-syndicated sports colyum called "For The Game's Sake" [cite news|author=Perry, Lawrence|title=Gill Named on Perry’s U.S. Star Eleven: Baker and Shaver Also Honored by Eastern Grid Expert|publisher=Oakland Tribune|date=1931-12-05]

Ends

*Gerald “Jerry” Dalrymple, Tulane (AP – 1; UP – 1; COL – 1; CP –1; NEA – 1; INS – 1; WCFF - 1; HSM - 1; CH - 1; LP - 1)

*"Vernon “Catfish” Smith", Georgia (AP -1; COL – 1; NEA – 2; INS – 2; HSM - 1; CP – 1; CH - 2; LP - 1)

*Henry Cronkite, Kansas State (AP – 2; UP – 1; NEA – 1; INS - 2; CP – 3; CH - 1)

*John “Johnny” Orsi, Colgate (AP – 2; CP – 2; NEA – 2; INS - 1; WCFF - 1; CH - 2)

*Paul Moss, Purdue (NEA – 3; INS - 3l CP – 2; )

*Koontz, Southern Methodist (CP -3)

*Bill Hewitt, Michigan (NEA - 3)

*Garrett Arbelbide, Southern California (AP - 3)

*Fred Felber, Univ. of North Dakota (AP - 3)

*Barres, Yale (INS- 3)

Tackles

*"Dallas “Dal” Marvil", Northwestern (AP – 1; NEA – 3; INS - 1; CP – 1; CH - 2; HSM - 1)

*"Jess Quatse", Pittsburgh (UP – 1; COL – 1; CP - 2; WCFF - 1; CH - 1)

*"Jack Riley", Northwestern (NEA – 1; INS - 2; WCFF - 1)

*Paul Schwegler, Washington (AP – 1; COL – 1; INS - 3; CP – 2)

*Joseph Kurth, Notre Dame (AP – 2; UP – 1; NEA – 1; INS – 2; CP – 3; LP - 1)

*John “Jack” Price, Army (AP – 3; CP – 1; NEA – 2; INS - 1; CH - 2)

*James MacMurdo, Pittsburgh (AP – 2; NEA – 3; INS - 3; HSM - 1)

*Ira Hardy, Harvard (NEA – 2; CH - 1; LP - 1)

*Hugh Rhea, Nebraska (AP - 3)

*Saunders, Tennessee (CP - 3)

Guards

*"Clarence “Biggie” Munn", Minnesota (AP – 1; UP – 1; COL – 1; NEA – 1; INS – 1; CP – 1; HSM - 1; CH - 1; LP - 1; WCFF - 1)

*"John “Johnny” Baker", Southern California (AP – 2; UP – 1; NEA – 1; INS – 1; CP – 2; WCFF - 1; HSM - 1; CH - 2; LP - 1)

*Herman Hickman, Tennessee (AP – 3; COL – 1; NEA – 3; INS - 3; CP – 1; CH - 1)

*Frank (Nordy) Hoffman, Notre Dame (AP - 1; NEA – 2; INS - 2)

*Joe Zeller, Indiana (NEA - 2)

*Ignatius "Jim" Zyntell, Holy Cross (CP - 2)

*James Evans, Northwestern (AP – 2; CP - 3)

*Maurice “Mush” Dubofsky, Georgetown (NEA - 3)

*Gregory Kabat, Wisconsin (AP – 3; CP - 3)

*Milton "Red" Leathers, Georgia (INS - 2)

*H.R. Myerson, Harvard (INS - 3)

* Corbus, Stanford (CH - 2)

Centers

*"Thomas Yarr", Notre Dame (AP – 1; NEA – 2; INS - 1; WCFF - 1; HSM - 1; CH - 2)

*Maynard Morrison, Michigan (AP – 3; COL – 1; NEA - 1; CP – 3)

*Ralph Daugherty, Pittsburgh (AP – 2; NEA – 3; INS – 3; CP – 1; LP - 1)

*Charles Miller, Purdue (UP - 1; CH - 1)

*Pete Gracey, Vanderbilt (CP - 2)

*McDuffie, Columbia (INS - 2)

Quarterbacks

*"W. Barry Wood, Jr.", Harvard (AP – 1; COL – 1; NEA – 1; INS - 1; CP – 1; HSM - 1; CH - 2)

*Austin Downes, Georgia (CP - 3)

*William Morton, Dartmouth (AP – 2; NEA – 2; INS - 3; CH - 1)

*Carl Cramer, Ohio State (AP - 3)

Halfbacks

*"Marchmont "Marchy" Schwartz", Notre Dame (AP – 1; UP – 1; COL – 1; NEA – 1; INS – 1; WCFF - 1; HSM - 1; CH - 1; LP - 1)

*Ernest “Pug” Rentner, Northwestern (AP – 1; UP – 1; COL – 1; NEA – 1; INS – 1 [named as fullback by Hearst] ; CP – 1; WCFF - 1; HSM - 1 [named as fullback] ; CH - 1; LP - 1)

*Donald Zimmerman, Tulane (AP – 2; NEA – 2; INS - 1; CP – 1; CH - 2)

*Bob Monnett, Michigan State (CP - 1)

*Eugene McEver, Tennessee (AP – 2; NEA – 2; INS - 2; CP – 2)

*Francis "Bud" Toscani, St. Marys (NEA - 2)

*Cornelius Murphy, Fordham (CP - 3; CH - 2) {Murphy died from a ruptured blood vessel in the brain in December 1931}

*J.W. Crickard, Harvard (NEA - 3)

*Albert J. "Mighty Atom" Booth, Jr., Yale (AP – 3; INS - 2)

*Weldon Mason, Southern Methodist (AP - 3)

*Ray Stecker, Army (INS - 3)

Fullbacks

*"Gaius "Gus" Shaver", Southern California (COL – 1 [selected as fullback] ; UP – 1 [selected as quarterback] ; NEA – 3 [selected as quarterback] ; INS – 2 [selected as quarterback] ; CP – 1 [selected as fullback] ; WCFF - 1 [selected as quarterback] ; LP - 1 [selected as quarterback] )

*Erny Pinckert, Southern California (AP – 1; NEA – 1; INS – 3 [picked as halfback] ; HSM - 1 [named as halfback] ; CH-1)

*John Lewis Cain, Alabama (UP – 1; NEA – 3 [picked as halfback] ; INS - 3; WCFF - 1; CH - 2)

*Ralston “Rusty” Gill, California (NEA – 3; LP - 1)

*Orville Mohler, Southern California (AP - 3; CP - 2 [picked as quarterback] )

*Jack Manders, Minnesota (CP - 2)

*Bart J. Viviano, Cornell (AP - 2)

*Clarke Hinkle, Bucknell (INS - 2)

*Nollie Felts, Tulane (CP - 3)

Notes

ee also

*College Football All-America Team
*2007 College Football All-America Team
*2006 College Football All-America Team
*2005 College Football All-America Team
*2004 College Football All-America Team
*1970 College Football All-America Team
*1925 College Football All-America Team
*1910 College Football All-America Team
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