Proliferation of All-American Teams
Despite the calls of some for the end to All-American teams, the death of Walter Camp did not bring an end to the tradition. Instead, Camp's death led to a proliferation of yet more experts naming their own All-American teams.
Even Ring Lardner jumped into the All-American mix in 1925 offering a satirical All-American team consisting of Red Grange at quarterback with Lardner, his friends and family members (men and women, elderly and children) filling out the remaining spots. Lardner wrote: "As soon as you have Grange and a center to pass him the ball you don't need or want no more football players and can take advantage of the opportunity to fill out other positions with relatives and congenial friends." Frank Getty of the United News Service wrote: “Now that All-American teams, All-Eastern teams, All-Conference teams and All-Colored teams for 1925 have been picked by everyone including the janitor, the janitor’s boy and Natalia Crane it’s about time to admit that it’s a futile practice. At best. No one is qualified to select an All-American team on his own, because no one can watch more than one game each Saturday during the season, nor see more than eight or nine games at the most.”
Read more about this topic: 1925 College Football All-America Team
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—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
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