Wartime Football's Unique All-American List: How WWII Created a Second Honor Roll

Published in Humor and Quirks on Thursday, August 14th 2025 at 13:46 GMT by WTOP News
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Here is a trivia question that should stump your friends: A football player named Dick Todd once made an AP All-America team the year AFTER winning an NFL title. How was such a thing possible?

The Quirky Legacy of Wartime Football: How WWII Created an Extra AP All-American List in the 1940s

In the annals of American college football history, the 1940s stand out not just for the gridiron heroics amid global turmoil, but for a peculiar anomaly in how the sport's elite players were recognized. The Associated Press (AP), long the arbiter of All-American teams, deviated from its standard practice during World War II, resulting in what amounts to an "extra" list of honorees. This quirk stemmed directly from the war's profound impact on the game, reshaping rosters, schedules, and even the very structure of competition. To understand this, one must delve into the chaos of wartime football, where traditional college programs intersected with military service teams in ways that blurred the lines of amateur athletics.

The story begins with the United States' entry into World War II following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. As the nation mobilized, college football faced unprecedented disruptions. Young men who might have been starring on campus fields were instead drafted into the armed forces or volunteered for service. Campuses emptied, and many schools struggled to field teams. Some programs suspended operations entirely, while others limped along with depleted rosters filled by younger players or those deferred from the draft for various reasons, such as physical limitations or essential civilian roles.

Compounding this was the rise of military service teams. The U.S. military, recognizing the value of morale-boosting activities, organized football squads at bases and training camps across the country. These teams were often stacked with talent—former college stars and even some professionals who had enlisted. Powerhouses like the Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks, the Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets, and the Randolph Field Ramblers emerged as formidable units, playing schedules that mixed games against college teams and other service outfits. These squads weren't bound by the same eligibility rules as colleges; they could include older players, transfers without sitting out, and even those with prior professional experience, creating a hybrid form of competition that was both exhilarating and controversial.

Enter the Associated Press, which had been selecting All-American teams since 1925 as a way to honor the best players in college football. Traditionally, the AP polled sportswriters and broadcasters to compile a single, definitive list of first-team, second-team, and sometimes third-team selections. But the war years presented a dilemma: How do you fairly evaluate and recognize talent when the playing field is so uneven? Service teams were dominating many games, often against weakened college opponents, yet they weren't technically "college" programs. Ignoring them risked overlooking some of the era's finest athletes, while including them might dilute the prestige of the All-American honor, which was rooted in collegiate achievement.

The turning point came in 1943, a year when the war's effects were at their peak. That season, the AP made the unprecedented decision to produce two separate All-American lists: one for traditional college players and another exclusively for those on service teams. This "extra" list allowed the AP to acknowledge the unique circumstances without merging the two worlds. For instance, the college All-American team that year featured standouts like Notre Dame's Angelo Bertelli, who won the Heisman Trophy before being called to active duty, and Georgia's Charley Trippi. Meanwhile, the service team list highlighted players like Glenn Dobbs of the Randolph Field Ramblers and Bill Dudley, who had already made a name for himself in the NFL before enlisting.

This dual-list approach wasn't a one-off; it extended into 1944 and, to a lesser extent, 1945, as the war wound down. In 1944, the service teams remained dominant, with outfits like the Fourth Air Force Flyers and the Fleet City Bluejackets boasting rosters that could rival professional squads. The AP's service All-Americans that year included talents such as Bob Fenimore, known as "Blond Bomber," who played for the El Toro Marines after his college days at Oklahoma A&M. By 1945, with victory in Europe and the Pacific on the horizon, the lines began to blur further—some players returned to colleges mid-season after discharges, adding to the confusion. Still, the AP persisted with recognizing service standouts separately, ensuring that wartime heroes like those from the Bainbridge Naval Training Station weren't forgotten.

The rationale behind this quirk was multifaceted. AP editors argued that service teams operated under different conditions—unlimited substitutions, no academic requirements, and access to top coaching from military brass with football pedigrees. Comparing a service player directly to a college freshman thrust into starting roles due to manpower shortages wouldn't be equitable. Moreover, the polls reflected the era's patriotic fervor; honoring servicemen on the gridiron was a way to boost national morale and pay tribute to those contributing to the war effort. Sportswriters of the time, many of whom were embedded with troops or covering the home front, embraced this adaptation as a necessary evolution of the All-American tradition.

This wartime innovation had lasting implications. It effectively doubled the number of All-Americans recognized in those years, creating what historians now view as an "extra" roster in the official records. For players, it meant broader opportunities for acclaim—some, like Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis of Army (which, as a service academy, straddled both worlds), earned spots on the college lists despite their military affiliations. Army's teams in 1944 and 1945 were unbeaten national champions, blending cadet life with elite football in a way that highlighted the era's fluidity.

Post-war, the AP reverted to a single list by 1946, as colleges replenished their rosters with returning veterans benefiting from the GI Bill. Yet the 1940s quirk remains a fascinating footnote, illustrating how external forces can reshape sports institutions. It underscores the resilience of college football, which not only survived but thrived amid adversity, producing legends whose stories are intertwined with America's wartime narrative. Players from those service teams often transitioned to the NFL, carrying their All-American credentials as badges of honor from an extraordinary period.

In retrospect, this extra list wasn't just a logistical fix; it was a reflection of a nation at war, where football served as both escape and emblem of sacrifice. Today, when poring over All-American archives, one encounters these dual rosters as a reminder of how the game adapted to chaos, ensuring that no deserving talent was overlooked in the fog of war. This chapter in football history enriches our understanding of the sport's cultural significance, showing how even in the darkest times, the pursuit of excellence on the field persisted, albeit in quirky, unconventional forms. (Word count: 928)

Read the Full WTOP News Article at:
[ https://wtop.com/ncaa-football/2025/08/how-a-quirk-of-wartime-football-led-to-an-extra-list-of-ap-all-americans-during-the-1940s/ ]

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Wartime Football's Unique All-American List: How WWII Created a Second Honor Roll

The Quirky Legacy of Wartime Football: How WWII Created an Extra AP All-American List in the 1940s