Three Nebraska players were selected to the Associated Press’ All-Time All-America team released Thursday.
Johnny Rodgers and Ndamukong Suh were picked on the first team, and Dave Rimington was a second-team selection.
The Huskers had two of the 25 players selected for the first team. Rodgers and four others on the first team won the Heisman Trophy. Twenty-one of the first-team players are in the College Football Hall of Fame, including Rodgers (Class of 2000). Suh is on the ballot for induction in 2026.
Rodgers was selected as an all-purpose player based on his 1972 season, the year he won the Heisman. He played at Nebraska from 1970 to ’72. In 1972, he had 55 receptions for 942 yards and eight touchdowns.
He pulled off one of the most electrifying plays not only in Nebraska history but in college football history. On Nov. 25, 1971, the Huskers were at Oklahoma for what correctly was called “The Game of the Century.”
Rodgers, No. 20, opened the scoring in the first quarter with an incredible, 72-yard punt return. The top-ranked Huskers won the game, 35-31.
Legendary Sports Illustrated writer Dan Jenkins wrote: “In essence, what won it for Nebraska was a pearl of a punt return in the game’s first 3½ minutes …
“It was one of those insanely thrilling things in which a single player, seized by the moment, twists, whirls, slips, holds his balance and, sprinting, makes it all the way to the goal line. Rodgers went 72 yards for the touchdown, one which keeps growing larger in the minds of all.”
Suh was one of the most fearsome defensive linemen in college football history. In 54 games, Suh had 215 tackles and 24 sacks. He even had four interceptions. He played for Nebraska from 2005 to ’09.
He was a fierce, physical presence on the Huskers’ defensive line. As a senior, he won the AP College Football Player of the Year award, Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy, among other awards. In 2009, he had 85 tackles and 12 sacks.
Suh finished fourth in the Heisman voting — extremely rare for a defensive player — behind winner Mark Ingram, an Alabama running back.
Rimington was so good at center, a national award is named for him — the Rimington Trophy, which goes to the best center in college football.
Rimington was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997. He played for the Huskers from 1979 to ’82. He won the Outland Trophy twice, in 1981 and 1982. The Outland is awarded for the best interior linemen in college football. Rimington is the only player to win the Outland twice.
AP awarded first-team center honors to Penn’s Chuck Bednarik, who played for the Quakers in 1947 and ’48. Bednarik was called “Concrete Charlie” and he played on offense and defense.
Twelve AP sports writers who cover college football selected the teams to mark AP’s 100-year history of naming college football All-Americans. Since 1925, AP reports that nearly 2,000 players have been AP first-team selections.
AP said about its criteria for selection: “For a player to qualify, he must have been an AP first-team All-American at least once. His professional career, if any, was not to be considered. Also, a member of the all-time team could only be listed on the side of the ball where he was named first-team All-America. All-purpose players could come from any position.”
The Big Ten had seven first-team selections, the most of any conference.
Nebraska has the eighth-most first-team selections in history with 54.
To see the complete first team and second team, click here.
Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.
Source link
