The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognizes four selectors as "official" for the 1981 season.
[1] They are: (1) the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) based on the input of more than 2,000 voting members;[2] (2) the Associated Press (AP) selected based on the votes of sports writers at AP newspapers;[3] (3) the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) selected by the nation's football writers;[4] and (4) the United Press International (UPI) selected based on the votes of sports writers at UPI newspapers.
[1] They were: Allen, Carter, McMahon, Rimington, Smith, and Walker have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
The 1981 Michigan Wolverines football team led the nation with five of its players, all on offense, receiving first-team honors from one or more of the selectors.
The following charts identify the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans for the year 1981 and displays which first-team designations they received.