Wheaton, Ill. – Wheaton College senior
Dallas McRae has been named to the Division III All-American Team by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). There have been 18 AFCA Division III All-American selections from Wheaton through the years, including seven since 2010.
McRae, a defensive tackle for the Thunder, is a First Team selection by the AFCA. The 2019 CCIW Don Larson Defensive Player of the Year, McRae is a two-time All-CCIW honoree. McRae leads the Thunder defense with 15.5 tackles for lost yardage of minus-86 yards this season. He has 48 total tackles this year, including 32 solo stops. He has registered 6.5 quarterback sacks of minus-57 yards. He has a team-high eight quarterback hurries, with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. The senior has been a force up front for a Wheaton defense that leads Division III in total defense (195.2 YPG) and in scoring defense (6.8 PPG).
McRae's selection marks the sixth-consecutive year that a Wheaton player has been selected to the AFCA team, joining:
Eric Stevenson (LB) in 2018; Chase Greenlee (DE) in 2017, Peter Gibson (G), in 2016, Adam Dansdill (LB) in 2015 and Spencer Clark (C) in 2014. Wheaton's 18 selections to the AFCA Division III All-American Team since the awards began in 1996 is
tied for fifth-most in the history of the award.
The AFCA has selected an All-America team every year since 1945. The five teams now chosen for each AFCA division evolved from a single 11-player squad in 1945. From 1945 until 1967, only one team was chosen. From 1967 through 1971, two teams – University Division and College Division – were selected. In 1972, the College Division was split into College I and College II. In 1979, the University Division was split into two teams — Division I-A and Division I-AA. In 1996, the College I and College II teams were renamed Division II and Division III, respectively. The AFCA began selecting an NAIA-only team in 2006. Also in 2006, the Division I-A and Division I-AA teams were renamed Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), respectively. From 1965-81, a 22-player (11 offensive, 11 defensive) team was chosen. In 1982, a punter and placekicker were added to the team. In 1997, a return specialist was added, giving us the current 25-player team. The return specialist position was replaced by an all-purpose player in 2006. In 2016, the AFCA added a second team All-America.
The AFCA's Division III All-America Selection Committee is made up of head coaches representing each conference from each of the AFCA's eight districts, one of whom serves as a district chairman, along with another head coach who serves as the chairman of the selection committee. The coaches in each district are responsible for ranking the top players in their respective districts prior to a conference call between the district chairmen and the committee chairman on which the team is chosen.
MOST AFCA DIVISION III ALL-AMERICAN SELECTIONS ALL-TIME
1.) Mount Union - 29
2.) Linfield and Mary Hardin-Baylor - 23
3.) UW-Whitewater, Wittenberg and Washington & Jefferson - 21
4.) Augustana - 19
5.)
WHEATON and UW-La Crosse - 18
6.) St. John's (Minn.), Springfield, Widener and Wesley - 17
7.) Central (Iowa) - 16
8.) Ithaca, Montclair State and St. Thomas (Minn.) - 15
9.) Emory & Henry, Salisbury and Frostburg State - 13
10.) John Carroll and North Central - 12
