The 1981 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1981. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognizes four selectors as "official" for the 1981 season. They are: (1) the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) based on the input of more than 2,000 voting members; (2) the Associated Press (AP) selected based on the votes of sports writers at AP newspapers; (3) the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) selected by the nation's football writers; and (4) the United Press International (UPI) selected based on the votes of sports writers at UPI newspapers. Other selectors included Football News (FN), Gannett News Service (GNS), the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), The Sporting News (TSN), and the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WC). Nine players were unanimously selected as first-team All-Americans by all four official selectors. 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. In addition to Anthony Carter, Michigan's honorees were offensive tackles Ed Muransky and Bubba Paris, offensive guard Kurt Becker, and running back Butch Woolfolk.

Consensus All-Americans

The following charts identify the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans for the year 1981 and displays which first-team designations they received.

Offense

Defense

Special teams

Offensive selections

Receivers

Tight ends

Tackles

Guards

Centers

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Defensive selections

Defensive ends

Defensive tackles

Middle guards

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Kickers

Punters

Key

Official selectors

Other selectors