DALLAS – Ten Gustavus Adolphus football players have been named to the 2015 National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame Hampshire Honor Society. The Hampshire Honor Society is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who have maintained a 3.2 GPA or better. Gustie seniors earning a place on this year’s team include Spencer Chinnelly (Bloomington, Minn.), Cameron Cropsey (Eagan, Minn.), Zach Dilger (South St. Paul, Minn.), Jake Forcier (Watkins, Minn.), Michael Hintze (Brooklyn Park, Minn.), Matt Keller (Eagan, Minn.), Andrew Lonneman (Adrian, Minn.), Barret Panning (Hamburg, Minn.), Travis Pepper (Overland Park, Kan.), and Zach Vine (Lino Lakes, Minn.). This year’s ten Gustavus recipients is a program-best since the inception of the Hampshire Honor Society in 2007.
Behind the leadership of Jon Hanson, the emeritus chairman of the National Football Foundation, a total of 825 players from 280 schools qualified for membership in 2015, the society’s ninth year, setting a new record for the number of schools represented in the history of the program, which began in 2007. The 280 schools represented in 2015 eclipses the 267 schools in 2014. The total of 825 players in the 2015 class is the second-most in the program’s history, only 13 behind the 838 honored last year.
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. Qualifications for membership in the NFF Hampshire Honor Society have three requirements. The first is the athlete needs to be a starter or 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. The second is the athlete needs to achieve a 3.2 cumulative grade point average throughout their entire undergraduate studies. The final requirement is they must meet all NCAA-mandated progress towards degree requirements and graduation.
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 4,081 student-athletes since its inception.