2012 College Football All-America Team
The 2012 College Football All-America Team includes those players of American college football who have been honored by various selector organizations as the best players at their respective positions. The selector organizations award the "All-America" honor annually following the conclusion of the fall college football season. The original All-America team was the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Caspar Whitney and Walter Camp. In 1950, the National Collegiate Athletic Bureau, which is the National Collegiate Athletic Association's service bureau, compiled the first list of All-Americans including first-team selections on teams created for a national audience that received national circulation with the intent of recognizing selections made from viewpoints that were nationwide. Since 1952, College Sports Information Directors of America has bestowed Academic All-American recognition on male and female athletes in Divisions I, II, and III of the NCAA as well as National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics athletes, covering all NCAA championship sports.
The 2012 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following College Football All-American first teams chosen by the following selector organizations: Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Pro Football Weekly, ESPN, CBS Sports, College Football News, Scout.com, and Yahoo! Sports.
Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. The system consists of three points for a first-team honor, two points for second-team honor, and one point for third-team honor. Honorable mention and fourth team or lower recognitions are not accorded any points. Football consensus teams are compiled by position and the player accumulating the most points at each position is named first team consensus all-American. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine Consensus All-Americans.
In 2012, there were 13 unanimous All-Americans.
| Name | Position | Year | University |
| Ryan Allen | Punter | Senior | Louisiana Tech |
| Jadeveon Clowney | Defensive Line | Sophomore | South Carolina |
| Jonathan Cooper | Offensive Line | Senior | North Carolina |
| Zach Ertz | Tight End | Junior | Stanford |
| Luke Joeckel | Offensive Line | Junior | Texas A&M |
| Jarvis Jones | Linebacker | Junior | Georgia |
| Marqise Lee | Wide Receiver | Sophomore | USC |
| Dee Milliner | Defensive Back | Junior | Alabama |
| Manti Te'o | Linebacker | Senior | Notre Dame |
| Phillip Thomas | Defensive Back | Senior | Fresno St. |
| Chance Warmack | Offensive Line | Senior | Alabama |
| Björn Werner | Defensive Line | Junior | Florida St. |
| Terrance Williams | Wide Receiver | Senior | Baylor |
Offense
Quarterback
- Tajh Boyd, Clemson
- Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M -- CONSENSUS --
- Ryan Nassib, Syracuse
Running back
- Montee Ball, Wisconsin -- CONSENSUS --
- Kenjon Barner, Oregon -- CONSENSUS --
- Le'Veon Bell, Michigan State
- Ka'Deem Carey, Arizona -- CONSENSUS --
- Johnathan Franklin, UCLA
Fullback
- J. C. Copeland, LSU
Wide receiver
- Stedman Bailey, West Virginia
- Marqise Lee, USC -- UNANIMOUS --
- Sammy Watkins, Clemson
- Terrance Williams, Baylor -- UNANIMOUS --
Tight end
- Tyler Eifert, Notre Dame
- Zach Ertz, Stanford -- UNANIMOUS --
Offensive line
- Jonathan Cooper, North Carolina -- UNANIMOUS --
- Eric Fisher, Central Michigan
- D. J. Fluker, Alabama
- Travis Frederick, Wisconsin
- Dalton Freeman, Clemson
- Gabe Ikard, Oklahoma
- Luke Joeckel, Texas A&M -- UNANIMOUS --
- Barrett Jones, Alabama -- CONSENSUS --
- Taylor Lewan, Michigan
- Jake Matthews, Texas A&M
- Ricky Wagner, Wisconsin
- Chance Warmack, Alabama -- UNANIMOUS --
- David Yankey, Stanford -- CONSENSUS --
Defense
Defensive line
- Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina -- UNANIMOUS --
- Sharrif Floyd, Florida
- Johnathan Hankins, Ohio State
- Chris Jones, Bowling Green
- Bennie Logan, LSU
- Star Lotulelei, Utah
- Damontre Moore, Texas A&M -- CONSENSUS --
- Will Sutton, Arizona State -- CONSENSUS --
- Stephon Tuitt, Notre Dame
- Björn Werner, Florida State -- UNANIMOUS --
- Jesse Williams, Alabama
- Sylvester Williams, North Carolina
Linebacker
- Arthur Brown, Kansas State
- Khaseem Greene, Rutgers
- Jarvis Jones, Georgia -- UNANIMOUS --
- Dion Jordan, Oregon
- Michael Mauti, Penn State
- Kevin Minter, LSU
- C. J. Mosley, Alabama -- CONSENSUS --
- Manti Te'o, Notre Dame -- UNANIMOUS --
Defensive back
- Johnthan Banks, Mississippi State
- Matt Elam, Florida
- Tony Jefferson, Oklahoma
- Dee Milliner, Alabama -- UNANIMOUS --
- Jordan Poyer, Oregon State -- CONSENSUS --
- Eric Reid, LSU -- CONSENSUS --
- Bradley Roby, Ohio State
- Logan Ryan, Rutgers
- Phillip Thomas, Fresno State -- UNANIMOUS --
- Kenny Vaccaro, Texas
- Jason Verrett, TCU
Special teams
Kicker
- Dustin Hopkins, Florida State
- Cairo Santos, Tulane -- CONSENSUS --
- Quinn Sharp, Oklahoma State
- Caleb Sturgis, Florida
Punter
- Ryan Allen, Louisiana Tech -- UNANIMOUS --
- Kyle Christy, Florida
- Dri Archer, Kent State -- CONSENSUS --
- Tavon Austin, West Virginia
- Reggie Dunn, Utah
- Duke Johnson, Miami
- Venric Mark, Northwestern
- Quincy McDuffie, UCF
- Tramaine Thompson, Kansas State
