MINNEAPOLIS — It hasn't been a bad year for Antoine Winfield Jr.
That sentence, of course, was written with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Winfield has had a spectacular year on the gridiron, topped off Wednesday with word the Gophers' defensive back has been named a consensus All-American.
What that means is Winfield was named All-America First Team by the AFCA, The Sporting News, Associated Press, and Walter Camp Foundation. He is the first Gopher to be named consensus All-American since center Greg Eslinger in 2005. The oft-honored safety is Minnesota's 34th Consensus All-American and he has potential to be the seventh unanimous selection in school history.
Minnesota previous unanimous All-America selections were tackle Ed Widseth (1936), center Clayton Tonnemaker (1949), back Paul Giel (1953), guard Tom Brown (1960), tackle Bobby Bell (1962) and Eslinger (2005).
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Winfield was also named Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year, All-Big Ten First Team, and was one of five finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Award, presented annually to the best defensive player in the nation. He leads the Gophers with 83 tackles, 58 of them solo. Winfield also has 3.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks this year to go along with seven interceptions and two forced fumbles.
The seven interceptions tie a school single-season record, and rank fourth in the NCAA this season.
Winfield and the Gophers will face Auburn in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1, 2020, in Tampa, Florida.
