(Portions of this story were taken from the National
Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, Inc.
website)
DALLAS, Texas - Recently, the National Football
Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced the members
of the 2009 NFF Hampshire Honor Society, which is comprised of
college football players from all divisions of play who each
maintained a 3.2 GPA or better. A total of 564 players from 266
schools qualified for membership in the society's third year,
including eight from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
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Neil Murphy of Centre College, Billy Blaustein of Colorado College,
Michael McNelis of DePauw University, Juan Joseph and Nick Namias
of Millsaps College, and Tyler Brantley, Chima Ikwuezunma and Ben
Scott of Sewanee-The University of the South were all selected as
members of the 2009 class.
This year's class of 564 players marks a 27 percent increase
from the 2008 class. In its inaugural year in 2007, the Hampshire
Honor Society honored over 300 students from 195 schools.
The NFF Hampshire Honor Society capitalizes on the NFF's current
National Scholar-Athlete program, greatly expanding the number of
scholar-athletes the NFF can recognize each year and further
strengthening the organization's leadership role in encouraging
academic performance by the student-athletes who play football at
the more than 700 college and universities with football programs
nationwide. Jon F. Hanson, the chairman and
founder of The Hampshire Companies, provided an endowment to launch
the NFF Hampshire Honor Society in 2007. He made the contribution
as part of his legacy to the organization after serving as NFF
chairman from 1994-2006.
"Thanks to the leadership of Jon Hanson, T.K. Wetherell and those
that serve on the Hampshire Honor Society's advisory committee, the
National Football Foundation has been able to extend its reach as a
pioneer in the promotion of the scholar-athlete ideal with this
empowering academic initiative," said NFF President & CEO
Steve Hatchell. "We strongly believe that football
is unique in its ability to foster academic achievement in our
young people, and this year's class contains countless examples
of
our nation's brightest young leaders."
Qualifications for membership in the inaugural NFF National Honor
Society include:
- Being a starter or a significant substitute in one's last year
of eligibility at an accredited NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision,
Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III, or an
NAIA college or university;
- Achieving a 3.2 cumulative grade point average throughout
entire course of undergraduate study; and
- Meeting all NCAA-mandated progress towards degree requirements.