Three Sooners named Phil Steele All-American

Creed Humphrey, Nik Bonitto and Isiah Thomas all earn postseason accolades from America's prodigious preseason football magazine publisher

John E. Hoover|

Three Sooners named Phil Steele All-American

Three Oklahoma Sooners were named to the Phil Steele All-America team on Wednesday.

Junior center and co-captain Creed Humphrey was named third-team All-American, while junior defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas and sophomore linebacker Nik Bonitto were named fourth-team All-American.

Humphrey, from Shawnee, OK, was behind Alabama’s Landon Dickerson and Iowa’s Tyler Linderbaum. Humphrey, who anchored Oklahoma’s record-setting offense each of the last three seasons, has declared for the NFL Draft and is widely projected as a first-round pick. Humphrey allowed zero sacks or hits on the quarterback in pass protection this season, according to Pro Football Focus.

Thomas and Bonitto were bookend pass-rushers the first half of the season before defensive end Ronnie Perkins returned from NCAA suspension and allowed Thomas to play more inside.

Bonitto, from Fort Lauderdale, FL, ranked first among FBS defenders in pass-rush grade, pass-rush win rate and pressure rate generated, according to PFF, and ranked third in the Big 12 this season with 0.85 QB sacks per game (8.5 total) and 10th with 1.10 tackles for loss per game (11.0 total).

Thomas, from Tulsa, rose from a reserve role into one of the Big 12’s most disruptive defensive linemen in 2020. He ranked fifth among Big 12 defenders with 0.73 sacks per game (8.0 total) and eighth at 1.14 tackles for loss per game (12.5 total).

Published Jan 7, 2021

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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