There have been 106 total cases in Wyoming’s high school football history where players with the same names ended up as all-state selections. Most were coincidence — not everyone has a unique name. Some were father-son senior/junior situations. And some were just plain weird.
In four cases, players with the same name made the all-state team in the same year for different teams:
- Clay Cundall: Made the all-state teams for both Greybull and Guernsey-Sunrise in 2009.
- Shawn Kelley: Made the all-state teams for both Cody and Dubois in 1994.
- Mike Williams: Made the all-state teams for both Natrona and Kemmerer in 1971.
- Phil Martin: Made the all-state teams for both Buffalo and Lingle in 1970.
An honorable mention here goes to the two Larry Sessions from 1960; Moorcroft Larry was an all-state honorable mention in Class B eight-man in 1959 as an underclassman and was all-conference in 1960. Byron Larry was an all-state selection in B 11-man in both 1960 and 1961.
Meanwhile, the most common name for an all-state football player in Wyoming is Mike Johnson; mentioning “Mike Johnson” always has to come with the caveat of “Which one?” Some of the more common names for all-state selections:
- Mike Johnson: Six Mike Johnsons have been all-state: The Byron one (1964), the Thermopolis one (1969-70), the Bow-Basin one (1976), the second Thermopolis one (1978), the Southeast one (1979-80) and the Wheatland one (1997-98).
- Bob Johnson: Four Bob Johnsons have been all-state: The Natrona one (1954), the Rock Springs one (1959), the Huntley one (1965) and the Wheatland one (1973). There was also a Rob Johnson (Tongue River 2005-07).
- Bob Wilson: Four Bob Wilsons have been all-state: The Sheridan one (1952), the Big Piney one (1958-59), the Glenrock one (1965) and the second Big Piney one (1979).
- Jim Anderson: Four Jim Andersons have been all-state: The Douglas one (1960), the Natrona one (1967), the Cheyenne East one (1973) and the Laramie one (1979).
- Bill Miller: Three Bill Millers have been all-state: The Cheyenne Central one (1958), the Cowley one (1965) and the Campbell County one (2003). There was also a Will Miller (Campbell County, 2020-21).
- Don Anderson: Three Don Andersons have been all-state: The Cody one (1946), the Greybull one (1961-62) and the Ten Sleep one (1988).
- Don Miller: Three Don Millers have been all-state: The Natrona one (1935), the Cheyenne Central one (1954) and the Burlington one (1987).
- Mike Smith: Three Mike Smiths have been all-state: The Kemmerer one (1973), the Rawlins one (1974-75) and the Ten Sleep one (1983-84).
- Mike Thompson: Three Mike Thompsons have been all-state: The Cody one (1982-83), the Cheyenne Central one (1988) and the second Cody one (2007).
Note that these lists don’t account for all possible first name variants such as Bob/Robert, Mike/Michael, etc. But it’s a pretty close approximation.
You can explore the all-state listings for yourself using the new searchable and sortable all-state database, which includes all selections from 1920 to 2022, minus the three all-state teams that have yet to be found (1926 all-class, 1932 all-class and 1994 1A nine-man).
–patrick