Penn State All-Americans
Walter Camp Football Foundation First Team All-Americans
This is the oldest collegiate honor dating to 1889—Camp himself selected the team until his death in 1925
Only 11 total players were selected as First Team annually from 1889 through 1964. Separate offensive and defensive 11’s were chosen beginning in 1965 with kicking specialists added in 1975. Only 7 Penn Staters (names in blue) were honored in the pre-1965-era (5 were selected personally by Camp).
1906—William “Mother” Dunn C (first Penn Stater to receive First Team honors & 2nd named to an All-America team—In 1898, Carlton “Brute” Randolph LG was named a 3rd Team All-American by Walter Camp, per Penn State—see photo below)
1919—Bob Higgins E (Penn State Head Coach 1930-48)
1920—Charley Way HB
1921—Glenn Killinger QB
1923—Joe Bedenk G (Penn State Head Coach 1949)
1959—Richie Lucas QB (Heisman Trophy runner-up)
1964—Glenn Ressler C/MG
1968—Ted Kwalick TE & Dennis Onkotz LB (first multiple selections from PSU)
1969—Mike Reid DT & Dennis Onkotz LB (Onkotz first from PSU to be selected 1st Team twice)
1970—Jack Ham LB
1971—Dave Joyner OT
1972—John Hufnagel QB & Bruce Bannon DE
1973—John Cappelletti TB & Ed O’Neil LB
1974—John Nessel OG (Former PSU QB Steve Joachim of Temple also selected)
1975—Greg Buttle LB & Chris Bahr PK (Bahr first kicking specialist ever selected)
1978—Chuck Fusina QB, Keith Dorney OT, Matt Millen DT, & Matt Bahr PK (first with 4 PSU players selected)
1979—Bruce Clark DT
1981—Curt Warner TB & Sean Farrell OG (oddly, there would be no 1982 selections from PSU National Champs)
1986—DJ Dozier TB, Shane Conlan LB, & Tim Johnson DT
1989—Blair Thomas TB
1992—OJ McDuffie WR
1993—Lou Benfatti DT
1994—Kerry Collins QB, Ki-Jana Carter TB, Bobby Engram WR, & Jeff Hartings OG (most PSU offensive players selected)
1995—Jeff Hartings OG (PSU’s 2nd 2-time selection)
1997—Curtis Enis TB
1999—LaVar Arrington LB, Brandon Short LB, & Courtney Brown DE (most PSU defensive players selected)
2002—Larry Johnson TB & Jimmy Kennedy DT
2005—Tamba Hali DE & Paul Posluszny LB
2006—Paul Posluszny LB (PSU’s 3rd 2-time selection)
2007—Dan Connor LB
2008—AQ Shipley C & Aaron Maybin DE
2011—Devon Still DT
2015—Carl Nassib DE
2017—Saquon Barkley RB
2023—Olu Fashanu OT (was selected to 2nd Team in 2022)
2024—Abdul Carter DE
Notable recent 2nd Team selections—Micah Parsons LB 2019, Joey Porter Jr. CB 2022, Tyler Warren TE 2024, & Vega Ioane OG 2025
Photo below—from “Spalding Football 1897” featuring W.A. Murray (left) & Brute Randolph (1899 Penn State Captain)
Penn State Unanimous Consensus All-Americans (through 2025)
Modern Unanimous Consensus Status requires 1st Team selection by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, Associated Press, Football Writers Association, American Football Coaches Association, & The Sporting News (These 5 are the official NCAA recognized selectors since 2002)
Note: Penn State appears to officially recognize 15 Unanimous Consensus All-Americans since the 1968 season, but 17 players appear to meet the criteria and are listed here
Abdul Carter DE 2024—15th “official” Unanimous Consensus A-A at PSU (also 45th official Consensus A-A at PSU)—AP, FWAA, AFCA, Sporting News, & Camp 1st Teams
Saquon Barkley RB/All-Purpose Back 2017—Officially 100th 1st Team All-American in PSU history—AP, FWAA, AFCA, Sporting News, & Camp 1st Teams (Camp & AFCA are only selectors to name him as 1st Team RB while other 3 official selectors chose him as 1st Team All-Purpose Back/Return Specialist, so Barkley is sometimes not listed as Unanimous)
Carl Nassib DE 2015—1st James Franklin-era player selected Unanimous Consensus—AP, FWAA, AFCA, Sporting News, & Camp 1st Teams
Tamba Hali DE 2005—AP, FWAA, AFCA, Sporting News, & Camp 1st Teams
Larry Johnson TB 2002—AP, FWAA, AFCA, Sporting News, & Camp 1st Teams
Courtney Brown DE 1999—AP, FWAA, AFCA, Sporting News, Football News, & Camp 1st Teams
LaVar Arrington LB 1999—AP, FWAA, AFCA, Sporting News, Football News, & Camp 1st Teams
Ki-Jana Carter RB 1994—AP, UPI, FWAA, AFCA, Sporting News, Football News, & Camp 1st Teams
Shane Conlan LB 1986—AP, UPI, FWAA, AFCA, & Camp 1st Teams (not always listed as Unanimous selection by some websites, but is listed by CHOF)
Sean Farrell OG 1981—AP, UPI, FWAA, & AFCA 1st Teams (in addition to Camp)
Keith Dorney OT 1978—AP, UPI, FWAA, & AFCA 1st Teams (in addition to Camp)
Chuck Fusina QB 1978—AP, UPI, FWAA, & AFCA 1st Teams (in addition to Camp)
Bruce Clark DT 1978—AP, UPI, FWAA, & AFCA 1st Teams
John Cappelletti TB 1973—named to AP, UPI, AFCA, FWAA, NEA & Camp 1st Teams
Jack Ham LB 1970—named to every All-American Team per PSU (listed as Unanimous selection by CHOF)—official selectors NEA, AP, UPI, AFCA, CP, & FWAA (Ham also selected by Camp)
Mike Reid DT 1969—named to every All-American Team per PSU (NEA, AP, UPI, AFCA, CP, & FWAA in addition to Camp)
Ted Kwalick TE 1968—first official PSU Unanimous selection (NEA, AP, UPI, AFCA, CP, & FWAA in addition to Camp)
*Walter Camp Foundation was not always an officially recognized NCAA selector prior to 1983
Penn State 2-time First Team All-Americans (through 2025)
(All selector organizations included)
Dan Connor LB 2006 & 2007—14th 2-time 1st Teamer at PSU
Paul Posluszny LB 2005 & 2006—2-time Walter Camp & AP 1st Teamer
LaVar Arrington LB 1998 & 1999—2-time Sporting News 1st Teamer
Jeff Hartings OG 1994 & 1995—2-time Walter Camp 1st Teamer
Steve Wisniewski OG 1987 & 1988—2-time Sporting News 1st Teamer
Shane Conlan LB 1985 & 1986
Kenny Jackson FL 1982 & 1983
Curt Warner TB 1981 & 1982
Sean Farrell OG 1980 & 1981—2-time Football News 1st Teamer
Bruce Clark DT 1978 & 1979—2-time FWAA, UPI, Football News, & AFCA 1st Teamer
Keith Dorney OT 1977 & 1978—2-time FWAA 1st Teamer
Dennis Onkotz LB 1968 & 1969—2-time Walter Camp, AP, UPI, FWAA (Look Magazine), & Football News 1st Teamer
Ted Kwalick TE 1967 & 1968—2-time AFCA & NEA 1st Teamer
Bob Higgins E 1915 & 1919—1st Penn Stater selected 1st Team by INS (forerunner of UPI) in 1915
Nittany Notes:
William “Mother” Dunn was Penn State’s first ever 1st Team All-American football player in 1906, but was he also an Olympian two years later?
Periodically over the years, Dunn has been listed as an Olympian by Penn State… Supposedly, Dunn competed in Discus at the 1908 Olympics in London… But this is not likely to have actually happened…
In 1908, there were two separate Discus events in the Olympic Games—Standard Discus (which is still competed in the modern games) and an Ancient Greek-style platform discus (which is no longer competed)… Olympics.com does not list Dunn among the 10 Americans entered in the Standard Discus event nor among the 6 US throwers in the platform event… The US did reportedly send a large number of competitors in Discus to London, and it’s possible he was simply among the group of throwers who “did not start” (one website suggested that only 7 Americans actually threw in Standard Discus and 4 in the ancient version)… However, Dunn is also not listed as an Olympian at Olympics.com, and this certainly casts doubt on his attendance at the games, let alone his participation…
It is possible that Dunn qualified for the 1908 Olympics, but was unable to travel to London for some reason… He was listed as an assistant football coach at Penn State for the 1908 season and that may have been a factor in his not attending the games that took place over the summer… Obviously, records from this era could also be incomplete…