1973 Little All-America college football team

The 1973 Little All-America college football team, also known as the Small College All-America football team, is composed of college football players from small colleges and universities who were selected by the Associated Press (AP) as the best players at each position. For 1973, the AP selected three teams, each team having separate offensive and defensive platoons.^[1][2]

Walter Payton of Jackson State was named to the second-team at running back. The first-team running backs were Billy "White Shoes" Johnson of Widener (1,496 rushing yards, 23 touchdowns), freshman Wilbert Montgomery of Abilene Christian (compiling a record 31 touchdowns in the regular season, 37 including post-season), and Mike Thomas of UNLV (1,741 rushing yards).^[2]

Kim McQuilken of Lehigh was the first-team quarterback. He completed 62.5% of his passes for 2,603 yards and 19 touchdowns.^[2]

Defensive end Ed "Too Tall" Jones from Tennessee State stood out on the defensive squad and was the first overall pick of the 1974 NFL draft.

First team

Position	Player	Team
Offense
QB	Kim McQuilken	Lehigh
RB	Billy "White Shoes" Johnson	Widener
	Wilbert Montgomery	Abilene Christian
	Mike Thomas	UNLV
WR	Don Hutt	Boise State
TE	Scott Garske	Eastern Washington
T	Steve Drongowski	Wittenberg
	Henry Lawrence	Florida A&M
G	Joe Kotval	Buena Vista
	Herbert Scott	Virginia Union
C	Mark King	Troy State
Defense
DE	Ed "Too Tall" Jones	Tennessee State
	Thomas Henderson	Langston
DT	Gary "Big Hands" Johnson	Grambling
	Bill Kollar	Montana State
MG	Glenn Fleming	Northeast Louisiana
LB	Waymond Bryant	Tennessee State
	Eugene Simms	Morgan State
	Godwin Turk	Southern
DB	Autry Beamon	East Texas State
	Leonard Fairley	Alcorn A&M
	Marty Kranz	Mankato State

Second team

Position	Player	Team
Offense
QB	Clint Longley	Abilene Christian
RB	Boyce Callahan	Jacksonville State
	Walter Payton	Jackson State
	Jimmy Smith	Northern Arizona
WR	Roger Carr	Louisiana Tech
TE	Bill Schlegel	Lehigh
T	Gregory Kindle	Tennessee State
	John Passananti	Western Illinois
G	Phil Gustafson	Kearney State
	Doug Lowrey	Arkansas State
C	Ed Paradis	IUP
Defense
DE	Jay Buse	Linfield
	Adrian Gant	Livingstone
DT	Fred Dean	Louisiana Tech
	Levi Stanley	Hawaii
MG	Alan Klein	Southeastern Louisiana
LB	Terry Factor	Slippery Rock
	Greg Lee	Cal Poly
	Steve Nelson	North Dakota State
DB	Ralph Gebhardt	Rochester
	Jim Muir	Elon
	Mike Woodley	Northern Iowa

Third team

Position	Player	Team
Offense
QB	Prinson Poindexter	Livingstone
RB	Nate Anderson	Eastern Illinois
	Tony Giglio	Lafayette
	Saul Ravanell	Nebraska–Omaha
WR	John Holland	Tennessee State
TE	Bernie Peterson	Linfield
T	Dave Clapham	Nevada
	Jim Pietrzak	Eastern Michigan
G	Coy Gibson	Wofford
	Thomas Saxson	North Carolina Central
C	R. W. Hicks	Humboldt State
Defense
DE	Ed McAleny	UMass
	Lawrence Pillers	Alcorn A&M
DT	Glenn Ellis	Elon
	John Teerlinck	Western Illinois
MG	Sam Moser	Sioux Falls
LB	Greg Blankenship	Hayward State
	Joe McNeely	Louisiana Tech
	Charles Battle	Grambling
DB	William Bryant	Grambling
	Keith Krebsbach	North Dakota State
	Anthony Leonard	Virginia Union

See also

• 1973 College Football All-America Team

References

1. "McQuilken, Johnson Little All-Americans". The News Journal. December 6, 1973. p. 39 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Johnsons Pace Little All-Stars". The Daily Advertiser. December 6, 1973. p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.