Although the honorees generally do not compete together as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media.

Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889.

[2] To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors based on a point system computed from the four different all-America teams.

[4] Other All-American lists include those determined by USA Today, Fox Sports, Yahoo!

The scholar-athletes selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) are termed Academic All-Americans.