1987 All-America college football team
American football team
The 1987 All-America college football 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 1987. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognizes five selectors as "official" for the 1987 season. They are: (1) the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA); (2) the Associated Press (AP) selected based on the votes of sports writers at AP newspapers; (3) the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA); (4) the United Press International (UPI) selected based on the votes of sports writers at UPI newspapers; and (5) the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WC). Other notable selectors included Football News the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), Scripps Howard (SH), and The Sporting News (TSN).
Consensus All-Americans
The following charts identify the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans for the year 1987 and displays which first-team designations they received.
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Full selections - offense
Quarterbacks
Don McPherson, Syracuse (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, NEA-1, SH, TSN)
Troy Aikman, UCLA (CFHOF) (AP-2, UPI-2, NEA-2)
Steve Taylor, Nebraska (AP-3, FN)
Running backs
Lorenzo White, Michigan State (AFCA, AP-2, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, FN, NEA-1, SH)
Craig Heyward, Pittsburgh (AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, SH, TSN)
Gaston Green, UCLA (AFCA, UPI-2, WC, FN, NEA-1)
Bobby Humphrey, Alabama (AP-3, WC, NEA-2, TSN)
Thurman Thomas, Oklahoma State (CFHOF) (AP-1, UPI-2)
Lydell Carr, Oklahoma (NEA-1 [FB])
Eric Metcalf, Texas (AP-2)
Jamie Morris, Michigan (NEA-2)
Mel Bratton, Miami (FL) (NEA-2 [FB])
Blair Thomas, Penn State (AP-3)
Wide receivers
Tim Brown, Notre Dame (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1 [return specialist], FWAA [KR/WR], UPI-1, WC, FN, NEA-1, SH, TSN)
Wendell Davis, LSU (AFCA, AP-2, FWAA, UPI-1, FN, SH, TSN)
Sterling Sharpe, South Carolina (CFHOF) (AP-3, FWAA, UPI-2, TSN)
Ernie Jones, Indiana (AP-1)
Marc Zeno, Tulane (AP-1, UPI-2)
Guy Liggins, San Jose State (AP-2)
Michael Irvin, Miami (FL) (NEA-2)
Terance Mathis, New Mexico (AP-3)
Tight ends
Keith Jackson, Oklahoma (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, FN, NEA-2, SH)
Pat Carter, Florida State (AP-2, UPI-2, NEA-1, TSN)
Ferrell Edmunds, Maryland (AP-3)
Centers
Nacho Albergamo, LSU (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, SH, TSN)
Chuck Lanza, Notre Dame (AP-2, UPI-2, FN, NEA-1)
Jake Young, Nebraska (NEA-2)
Matt Wilson, Texas A&M (AP-3)
Offensive guards
Mark Hutson, Oklahoma (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, FN, NEA-1, SH)
Randall McDaniel, Arizona State (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-2, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, SH)
John Phillips, Clemson (AP-2, NEA-1)
Steve Wisniewski, Penn State (TSN)
Harry Galbreath, Tennessee (AP-3, UPI-2, NEA-2, TSN)
Larry Rose, Alabama (NEA-2)
Eric Andolsek, LSU (AP-3)
Offensive tackles
Dave Cadigan, USC (AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, NEA-1, SH, TSN)
Jumbo Elliot, Michigan (AFCA, FWAA, UPI-1, WC)
John McCormick, Nebraska (AFCA, AP-1 [OG], UPI-2 [OG], FN)
Paul Gruber, Wisconsin (UPI-2, NEA-1, TSN)
Stacy Searels, Auburn (AP-1, FN)
Dave Richards, UCLA (SH)
Greg Johnson, Oklahoma (AP-2, UPI-2, NEA-2)
Tony Mandarich, Michigan State (AP-2, FN)
Louis Cheek, Texas A&M (AP-3)
Pat Tomberlin, Florida State (AP-3, NEA-2)
Full selections - defense
Defensive linemen
Chad Hennings, Air Force (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1 [DT], FWAA, UPI-1, WC, FN, NEA-1 [DT], SH, TSN)
Danny Stubbs, Miami (AFCA, AP-1 [DT], FWAA, UPI-1, WC, FN, NEA-1 [DE], SH, TSN)
Tracy Rocker, Auburn (CFHOF) (AP-3 [DT], FWAA, UPI-1, WC, FN, SH)
Ted Gregory, Syracuse (UPI-1, FWAA, FN, NEA-1 [NG], TSN)
Neil Smith, Nebraska (AP-2 [DT], NEA-1 [DT], TSN)
Tony Cherico, Arkansas (AFCA, UPI-2, SH)
Broderick Thomas, Nebraska (AP-2, UPI-2, WC, NEA-1 [DE])
Michael Dean Perry, Clemson (FWAA, UPI-2, NEA-2 [DT])
Darrell Reed, Oklahoma (AP-1 [DE], UPI-2, FN, NEA-2 [DE])
Mark Messner, Michigan (AP-2 [DT], TSN)
Roy Hart, South Carolina (AP-2 [NG])
Burt Grossman, Pittsburgh (NEA-2 [DE])
Carlton Bailey, North Carolina (NEA-2 [NG])
Kyle Rappold, Colorado (AP-3 [NG])
Linebackers
Chris Spielman, Ohio State (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, FN, NEA-1, SH, TSN)
Aundray Bruce, Auburn (AFCA [DL], UPI-1, WC, NEA-2, SH, TSN)
Dante Jones, Oklahoma (AFCA, AP-1, UPI-2, SH)
John Roper, Texas A&M (AP-1 [DE], FWAA, UPI-2)
Ken Norton Jr.
“1987 All-America college football team” enters the record as american football team. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what All-America, college and football can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“1987 All-America college football team” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, All-America, college and football provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4583626. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1987.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “1987 All-America college football team”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 1987 All-America college football team primary sources, 1987 All-America college football team archive and All-America research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “1987 All-America college football team”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “1987 All-America college football team” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.