In its official listing of "Consensus All-America Selections," the NCAA identifies as "consensus All-Americans" those players who were selected by either Camp or Whitney.[1] Using this criterion, the NCAA recognized 14 players as "consensus All-American" for the 1902 football season.[1] They are indicated in bold in the list below ("All-Americans of 1901").
In 2008, Sports Illustrated sought to answer the question, "Who would have won the Heisman from 1900-1934?"[4] Its selection for 1902 was Paul Bunker of Army, a player who converted from tackle to halfback and "dominated Navy from both sides of the ball, scoring twice in a 22-8 victory."[4]
Concerns of Eastern bias
The All-America selections by Camp and Whitney were dominated by players from the East and the Ivy League in particular. In 1902, all 14 consensus All-Americans came from Eastern universities, and 12 of 14 played in the Ivy League. The Yale Bulldogs (Camp's alma mater) had seven players who were designated as consensus All-Americans. The only two consensus All-Americans from schools outside the Ivy League were tackle Paul Bunker and center Robert Boyers, both of whom played for Army.[1]
The dominance of Eastern players led to criticism over the years that the All-America selections were biased against players from the leading Western universities, including Chicago, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame.[5][6] During the 1902 season, Fielding H. Yost's "Point-a-Minute" team at Michigan compiled an 11–0 record and outscored its opponents by a combined score of 644 to 12.[7] Seven Michigan players were chosen for All-Western teams, including Willie Heston, Joe Maddock, Boss Weeks, Everett Sweeley, Paul J. Jones, Curtis Redden, and Dan McGugin. Yet, not one player from a western school was recognized as a first-team All-American by Camp or Whitney.[1]
Unofficial selectors
In addition to Camp and Whitney, other sports writers and publications selected All-America teams in 1902, though such lists have not been recognized as "official" All-America selections by the NCAA. The list below includes the All-America selections made by The Newark Advocate and The Post-Standard of Syracuse, New York.[8][9] Only one player, guard Edward Glass of Yale, was unanimously selected by Camp, Whitney, The Newark Advocate, and The Post-Standard.
^ abcdefg"Football Award Winners"(PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 6. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
^ abMichael MacCambridge, Dan Jenkins (2005). ESPN College Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of College Football from 1869 to the Present. p. 1145.
^ abCaspar Whitney (January 1903). "The Viewpoint"(PDF). Outing. Archived from the original(PDF) on July 23, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2010.
^"All-American Teams of East Are Jokes: Critics Who Never Saw Western Teams Play to Name Best in Country -- Forget About Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois". The Mansfield News. December 8, 1910.
^Ross Tenney (December 31, 1922). "Much Dissatisfaction Over Camp's All-American Team: Football Dean Is Accused of Favoring East; Walter Camp Soundly Scored For 'Poorest Teams Ever Foisted Upon Public'". The Des Moines Capital.
^"1902 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved November 21, 2007.
^ ab"Our All-American Selection". The Newark Advocate. December 2, 1902.
^ ab"The All-American Team For the Season of 1902". The Post-Standard. November 24, 1902.
