Widseth was selected as a first-team All-American in all three seasons he played for the Golden Gophers. As a sophomore in 1934, he was selected as a first-team All-American by the International News Service ("INS")—the Hearst newspaper syndicate. In 1935, he received first-team All-American honors from the United Press ("UP"), the All-America Board, "Liberty", the INS, the North American Newspaper Alliance, the Central Press Association, and the Walter Camp Football Foundation ("WCFF"). In 1936, he was a consensus All-American receiving first-team honors from the Associated Press, the UP, "Collier's Weekly", the INS, the Newspaper Editors Association, "Liberty", the Central Press, and WCFF.