University of Tennessee Athletics
Berry Clinches Consensus All-America, Tabbed Nation's Top Defensive Sophomore
December 13, 2008 | Football
Dec. 13, 2008
Tennessee safety Eric Berry secured consensus All-America honors Saturday when the Football Writers Association of America named him to its first team during an ABC Television broadcast.
Berry's latest selection marks the third such nationally recognized All-America honor in the last nine days, clinching for UT's sophomore sensation consensus status from the NCAA Statistics Service. The Sporting News and Associated Press have yet to release their teams, but Berry already stands as the 34th different Tennessee player to be named consensus All-America and the first since Michael Munoz in 2004.
All that remains is whether Berry will appear on all five first team listings. Offensive lineman Antone Davis in 1990 was the last Vols player to be named first team on each and every All-America squad recognized that season by the NCAA. Four Vols -- Steve Kiner (1968-69), Chip Kell (1968-69), Larry Seivers (1975-76) and John Henderson (2000-01) -- claimed honors in two different seasons to give Tennessee 38 different consensus selections.
UT's Fairburn, Ga., native has had quite a recent stretch.
In addition to All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association and Walter Camp Foundation, Berry was named Rivals.com All-America, All-SEC by both the league's coaches and Associated Press, and SEC Defensive Player of the Year by those same two groups.
Berry also was selected Friday as National Defensive Sophomore of the Year by CollegeFootballNews.com, just one day after appearing on The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show in Orlando, Fla. Berry was one of three finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award, presented annually to the nation's top defensive back.
See the link for a transcript of Berry's live chat from Orlando that appeared Thursday afternoon on UTSports.com.
2008 FWAA ALL-AMERICA TEAM
DEFENSE
DL-Jerry Hughes, TCU, 6-2, 248, Jr.
DL-Terrence Cody, Alabama, 6-5, 365, Jr.
DL-Brian Orakpo, Texas, 6-4, 260, Sr.
DL-Aaron Maybin, Penn State, 6-4, 236, Jr.
LB-Scott McKillop, Pittsburgh, 6-2, 240, Sr.
LB-Rey Maualuga, Southern California, 6-2, 260, Sr.
LB-Brandon Spikes, Florida, 6-3, 245, Jr.
DB-Eric Berry, Tennessee, 5-11, 195, Soph.
DB-Malcolm Jenkins, Ohio State, 6-1, 201, Sr.
DB-Taylor Mays, Southern California, 6-3, 230, Jr.
DB-Alphonso Smith, Wake Forest, 5-9, 190, Sr.
OFFENSE
QB-Colt McCoy, Texas, 6-3, 210, Jr.
RB-Shonn Greene, Iowa, 5-11, 235, Jr.
RB-Kendall Hunter, Oklahoma State, 5-8, 180, Soph.
C-A.Q. Shipley, Penn State, 6-1, 297, Sr.
OL-Andre Smith, Alabama, 6-4, 330, Jr.
OL-Michael Oher, Mississippi, 6-5, 318, Sr.
OL-Duke Robinson, Oklahoma, 6-5, 335, Sr.
OL-Jason Smith, Baylor, 6-5, 305, Sr.
TE-Chase Coffman, Missouri, 6-6, 245, Sr.
WR-Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech, 6-3, 214, Soph.
WR-Jarett Dillard, Rice, 5-11, 185, Sr.
SPECIAL TEAMS
K-Louie Sakoda, Utah, 5-9, 178, Sr.
P-Kevin Huber, Cincinnati, 6-1, 220, Sr.
R-Brandon James, Florida, 5-7, 186, Jr.
