At the meeting of the Princeton football on December 4, 1913, Ballin was elected as the captain of the 1914 football team. At age 20, he was one of the youngest players ever chosen as captain of Princeton's football team. As captain of the 1914 team, Ballin played every minute of every game for Princeton. In recognition of his contributions in 1914, Ballin was selected as a first-team All-American by 21 of 26 recognized selectors, including Walter Camp, "Vanity Fair" (selected based on the votes of 175 "prominent newspapermen of the country"), Walter Eckersall of the Chicago Tribune, Frank G. Menke, sporting editor of the International News Service, the "New York Herald", and James P. Sinnot of the "New York Evening Mail".