Senior Tyler Eifert was already named to the 2012 watch list for the Maxwell Award (college football's outstanding player of the year).

Tyler Eifert And Manti Te'o Named To Walter Camp All-America Teams

Dec. 8, 2011

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – University of Notre Dame juniors Tyler Eifert and Manti Te’o have been named to All-America teams by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, announced Thursday evening.

Eifert (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) was recognized as the nation’s top tight end and became Notre Dame’s 185th first team All-America selection while Te’o was named a linebacker on the second team.

The 57 receptions by Eifert were the most of any tight end in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and his 713 receiving yards ranked second among all tight ends. Eifert’s 57 catches broke the Notre Dame record for receptions in a season by a tight end and only eight players in program history have recorded more receptions in a season. The 713 receiving yards rank second all-time among Notre Dame tight ends.

Eifert became the 185th first team All-America selection in Notre Dame history and the first tight end named to an All-America first team since Derek Brown in 1991. Eifert is the sixth Notre Dame tight end since 1973 to earn first team All-America accolades joining Dave Casper (1973), Ken MacAfee (1975-77), Tony Hunter (1982), Mark Bavaro (1984) and Brown. Of that group, only Casper, MacAfee (1976-77) and Brown were named All-America first team by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

Te’o (Laie, Hawaii/Punahou) leads the Irish with 115 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and four and a half sacks. He became the 10th player in Notre Dame history to record 300 tackles for a career and he currently ranks eighth in Fighting Irish history with 311 career tackles.

Named to SI.com’s All-America second team last year, Te’o is the second Notre Dame linebacker to earn All-America accolades from the Walter Camp Football Foundation since 1991 (Courtney Watson, 2002). A finalist for the Butkus Award and Lott Trophy, Te’o was also named a second team Academic All-American.

The Walter Camp Football Foundation All-America team is the nation’s oldest All-America team and is selected by the head coaches and sports information directors of the 120 FBS schools.

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