FRISCO, Texas – Three former Texas State standout football players have been named to the Southland Conference All-Decade Team from the 1980s as part of the league's year-long 50th Year Anniversary. The team includes 82 former players from each of the 12 SLC members from 1980-89.
 
Texas State is represented on the all-decade team by defensive back A.J. Johnson, running back Bill Jones and offensive lineman Jeff Novak.
 
Johnson played as a defensive back and wide receiver during his career at Texas State. He had the third-most receiving yards in a game with 196 versus Lamar and led the Bobcats with 26 receptions for 459 yards and four touchdowns in 1988 after breaking up nine passes in 1987.  He also led Texas State with 19 kickoff returns for 446 yards after leading the team in punt returns in 1985 and 1987. He returned 10 punts for 51 yards in 1985 and 9 for 111 yards and a touchdown in 1987. Johnson was drafted by Washington in the sixth round of the 1989 NFL Draft and played six years with Redskins before playing with the San Diego Chargers in 1995. He played in the Super Bowl XXVI with Washington.  
 
Jones was an All-SLC First Team selection after leading Texas State in rushing with 876 yards on 207 carries in 1988. He also led the team with 10 touchdowns that season and was named the team's Offensive Player of the Year. He was drafted by the Kansas City in the 12th round of the NFL Draft and played three seasons with the Chiefs from 1990-92.
 
Novak was a NCAA Division I-AA All-America offensive tackle, All-SLC First-Team selection and was named Texas State's Offensive Player of the Year in 1989 after earning All-SLC Honorable Mention honors in 1988. Drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the seventh round of the 1990 NFL Draft, Novak played one season with Miami in 1994 before playing the next four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Novak's son, Cade, is a member of the 2013 Texas State team.
 
The SLC underwent significant changes during the decade as the league became a NCAA Division I-AA powerhouse that produced a national championship, four national title finalists and five national semifinalists.
 
The 1980s All-Decade team includes 13 former student-athletes from McNeese State, and 12 from ULM, which won the 1987 NCAA Division I-AA national championship. Both Arkansas State and North Texas placed 11 members on the All-Decade squad, followed by Louisiana Tech with nine, Stephen F. Austin with eight, UT Arlington with six, Northwestern State with five, Texas State with three, Lamar with two, and Sam Houston State and Louisiana with one each.
 
To best assess the candidate pool for the all-decade team, the Southland Conference developed a metric that analyzed numerous elements of a student-athlete's performance and value within the league at the time. Most notably, the conference honored "real-time" factors such as all-conference selection by coaches and a player's statistical performance among his peers at the time. Further, other components of selection including a player's effort toward helping his team win a championship or finish near the top of the conference, whether he earned individual honors from the league, if he participated in postseason bowls, and if he was drafted by or participated in the NFL.
 
The Southland Conference will continue to recognize all-decade teams throughout the 2013 season.