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The AP All-American All-Time Teams: The Tim Tebow Hype Heist Continues

by: Paul Wadlington08/18/25
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Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images.

The AP issued their all-timer 1st and 2nd team All-Americans. Compiling a list like this is very difficult – I don’t know how to compare Syracuse’s Jim Brown to Auburn’s Bo Jackson and Texas’ Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams, or, for that matter, Army’s Doc Blanchard and USC’s Marcus Allen – but it’s important to honor players where I can’t name a dozen or more players better than the standard bearer FROM THEIR ERA.

It can be hard to separate a player from their ecosystem. Or to know if the player is the creator or beneficiary of that ecosystem. Or both. It’s even harder for sports journalists, apparently.

They create the hype and then fall victim to it.

Here are the all-timer AP All-American teams.

There’s some run of the mill silly there. Ohio State’s Archie Griffin on the 2nd team is a giant eye roll. Before you argue with me, read this. It’s because he has two Heismans (one undeserved) and lazy regionalism.

Whether you disagree with another Buckeye Chris Spielman being listed over Texas’ Derrick Johnson and Tommy Nobis, or Florida State’s Derrick Brooks, Texas A&M’s Dat Nguyen, or Boston College’s Luke Kuechly, is a matter of opinion, I suppose.

Though some opinions are better than others.

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There’s one name that should ping hard on your Dumb Detection Radar. The first name on this list.

Florida QB Tim Tebow. The greatest QB in the history of the college game! It’s hard to type it without chuckling.

Forget the old breed.

How about a quick list of his contemporaries, so that we equalize for era, give or take a decade or so, who were better QBs? I’m not talking about legacy, personal meaningfulness, or hype. I’m talking about playing a game with this guy at QB with a moderate supporting cast.

Off of the top of my head (and I don’t care if they were all technically 1st Team AP All-Americans, let’s understand the larger context of what’s actually being argued):

Vince Young

Cam Newton

Andrew Luck

Lamar Jackson

Drew Brees

Baker Mayfield

Trevor Lawrence

Joe Burrow

Deshaun Watson

Kyler Murray

Matt Leinart

Colt McCoy

Robert Griffin III

Bryce Young

Jayden Daniels

**

There’s 15. Feel free to add, subtract, debate.

Can you name fifteen better linebackers than Lawrence Taylor that played within a decade of him? How about fifteen better college defensive backs than Champ Bailey? No, you can’t. You can’t name two. And that’s the whole point.

I suppose my last half dozen inclusions will engender debate, but it’s one I’m very willing to have. You want to debate the top eight or nine? Good luck, hype boy.

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