Will Anderson Jr. sets another Alabama football program record for national recognition

Making Alabama football history isn't easy.

Not when elite player after elite player has been part of dynasties from Paul "Bear" Bryant to Nick Saban. Yet none of those players have ever been a two-time unanimous All-American. That changed this year.

Edge defender Will Anderson Jr. was named a unanimous All-America selection for the second consecutive season. He's played three seasons of college football, and he's been a first-team All-American in two of them.

Anderson is the first defender in college football to accomplish that honor since, Tennessee's Eric Berry in 2007 and 2008. For reference of how long it has been, those were Saban's first two seasons in Tuscaloosa.

Only 39 players have ever reached this distinction in the history of the NCAA. Anderson is the 10th player on defense to do it.

Saban, over his 16 seasons, has had 26 unanimous All-Americans.

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This season, Anderson has tallied 51 tackles, 17 for loss, and 10 sacks. Those efforts also earned him the Nagurski Trophy, Lombardi Award and Lott Trophy national awards. No defensive player had done that since Notre Dame's Manti Te'o in 2012.

His 2022 stats are strong, but they're still not as good as those from 2021, when he finished with 34.5 tackles for loss and 17.5 sacks.

Five All-America teams are used to determine unanimous selections: The American Football Coaches Association, Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, Sporting News and Walter Camp.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Will Anderson: Alabama football's first two-time unanimous All-America