IRVING, Texas - Senior Nathan Packard of the Austin College football team was named to the National Football Foundation Honor Society on Tuesday afternoon. Packard is among 838 college football student-athletes from 267 schools recognized by the group. Complete Release from National Football Foundation
The honor society recognizes student-athletes who excel on the football field, in the classroom, and in the community.
Packard, a senior on the 'Roo football team, compiled 60 tackles
this past year including two sacks, sevens tackles for loss, one
interception, and one fumble recovery to lead Austin College to a
5-5 record, their best record since 2008.
Designed to highlight football's unique ability to develop
tomorrow's brightest leaders, The NFF Hampshire Honor Society
honors the college football players from all divisions of play who
each maintain a 3.2 GPA or better during their collegiate
careers.
“We continue to raise the bar each year for the number
of student-athletes who qualify for membership in the Hampshire
Honor Society,” said NFF President & CEO Steve
Hatchell. “The Hampshire Honor Society plays an important
role in highlighting that college football players clearly play a
leadership role in the classroom as well as on the playing field.
We congratulate each of these young men for their commitment to
excellence.”
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. The
program further strengthens 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. The initiative has honored 4,927
student-athletes since its inception, and the program has
experienced growth every year in either members or school
participation since its launch in 2007. The 2014 class of 838
players represents a new high water mark for members, eclipsing the
old record mark by 117 student-athletes.
As NFF Chairman, Hanson transformed the organization with
initiatives that included launching Play It Smart, the NFF's highly
successful youth mentoring program for at-risk kids; spearheading
an endowment campaign for the NFF's prestigious National
Scholar-Athlete Awards; and instituting the Divisional Hall of Fame
program, which provides for induction of coaches and players from
the divisional ranks of college football.
The Hampshire Honor Society represents a powerful component
in the organization's rich history as an innovator in promoting the
scholar-athlete ideal. Launched in 1959 with a donation from Hall
of Fame coach Earl “Red” Blaik, the NFF’s
National Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments,
became the first initiative in history to grant postgraduate
scholarships based on a player’s combined academic success,
football performance and community leadership. And, since its
inception, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards program has
awarded $10.4 million to 787 top scholars and community
leaders.
Qualifications for membership in the NFF Hampshire 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.
