Antoine Winfield Jr. Named Gophers' Seventh Unanimous All-American

[DanielHouse]

Gophers safety Antoine Winfield Jr. has been named All-America First Team by the FWAA. Winfield led Minnesota with 83 tackles and seven interceptions in 2019. The Gophers' defensive back also earned First Team All-American honors from the AFCA, Associated Press, The Sporting News, and Walter Camp Foundation.

Winfield is Minnesota's first unanimous All-American since center Greg Eslinger in 2005. Only seven players have earned unanimous All-American honors in Gopher football history. Winfield is the third Minnesota player to achieve this status in the past 57 years (Bobby Bell - 1962 and Eslinger - 2005). He has also joined his father, Antoine Winfield Sr., who was named an unanimous All-American at Ohio State in 1998.

The complete list of past unanimous All-Americans in Minnesota football history include: tackle Ed Widseth (1936), center Clayton Tonnemaker (1949), running back Paul Giel (1953), guard Tom Brown (1960), tackle Bobby Bell (1962) and Eslinger (2005).

Here's a feature I wrote with Winfield and his father prior to the 2018 season: https://bit.ly/38VOdeR

 

[PMWinSTP]

Rare group for him to join! Great article as well Daniel!

 

[Otis]

Have they announced the Thorpe award yet? Would be cool if he and his dad both won this!

 

[PitinoFan]

Have they announced the Thorpe award yet? Would be cool if he and his dad both won this!

Yes, they did. He wasn’t even a finalist, which makes no sense at all.

 

[GophersInIowa]

Yes, they did. He wasn’t even a finalist, which makes no sense at all.

Or semifinalist. Didn't even make the top 15. Crazy.

 

[Taji34]

Or semifinalist. Didn't even make the top 15. Crazy.

Fuel for him to stay another season? There's also this:

Is this person implying that he'll stay another year?

 

[die hard gopher]

Just announced he will play in the bowl game.

 

[MplsGopher]

Just announced he will play in the bowl game.

Hopefully meaning he will be back next year!

If you're declaring this year, why risk the bowl game??

 

[die hard gopher]

Hopefully meaning he will be back next year!

If you're declaring this year, why risk the bowl game??

Because it's one of the biggest games of the year on National television on New Years Day against a top 15 SEC team team and its the culmination of what you've been working for all year?

I mean using this logic, why should he have risked playing in the Northwestern and Wisconsin games once he likely solidified his stock in the PSU game?

 

[MplsGopher]

Because it's one of the biggest games of the year on National television on New Years Day against a top 15 SEC team team and its the culmination of what you've been working for all year?

I mean using this logic, why should he have risked playing in the Northwestern and Wisconsin games once he likely solidified his stock in the PSU game?

It’s a nice try but there has never been any such thing as a senior purposefully forgoing regular season games, that I’m aware of.

Also why such a defensive response?? Isn’t it a good thing to hope Winfield comes back?

 

[die hard gopher]

It’s a nice try but there has never been any such thing as a senior purposefully forgoing regular season games, that I’m aware of.

Also why such a defensive response?? Isn’t it a good thing to hope Winfield comes back?

Because your implying the bowl game is meaningless which I strongly disagree with. One of the top 3 most important games do the year IMO.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Fuel for him to stay another season? There's also this:

Is this person implying that he'll stay another year?

Might be referring to Bateman. But would love it if Antoine decides to come back and do it again next year

 

[MplsGopher]

Because your implying the bowl game is meaningless which I strongly disagree with. One of the top 3 most important games do the year IMO.

Sorry you got that impression, I don’t think that in the slightest.

I never root for or hope that players moving on to the NFL skip the bowl game. But I absolutely understand why they do.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Not sure if this has found its way into any other threads yet but this interview with Winfield was posted today. He doesn't commit one way or another when asked about next year but reading between the lines it sure feels like he is going pro. If the Auburn game does end up being his final game for the Gophers hopefully he will make it one to remember with some big plays.


He is so good with the media, would bet his old man has given him a lot of pointers along the way. No matter what he decides to do next year, has been a pleasure watching him play at the U. Only disappointing part is we got cheated out of the majority of two seasons due to injuries.

 

[MplsGopher]

He doesn't commit one way or another when asked about next year but reading between the lines it sure feels like he is going pro.

Was there a response in particular that gave you that vibe? I didn't listen to every second, but I clicked through it a bit. He said he was looking forward to playing with the seniors one last time. Said he supports that Kamal isn't playing. If there was something more direct about him coming back I must've skipped over it.