IRVING, Texas - The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced today the members of the 2021 NFF Hampshire Honor Society, which is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college careers.
The Drake University football team had eight current and former student-athletes selected for this prestigious annual membership recognition. Current Bulldogs include seniors
Brady Bjorkman,
Ryan Kriceri and
Ben Nienhuis while the former Bulldogs are Jacob Bacon, Chris Evans, Jacob Hardy, Victor Jergens and Collin Seymour.
Bjorkman, a wide receiver, is an Entrepreneurial Management & Marketing major with a 3.34 grade point average. He has played in three of four games this spring. Kriceri is a linebacker who is second on the team in tackles this spring with 24. He is an Accounting major with a 3.66 GPA. Nienhuis, a quarterback, made his first career start this spring at Valparaiso, is a Biology major, with an outstanding 3.99 GPA.
Bacon, Evans, Hardy, Jergens and Seymour elected to end their respective careers after the cancellation of the Pioneer Football League's fall season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The five were all significant contributors on the field especially during the 2019 season. The group was also accomplished in the classroom with several academic honors, including Bacon and Jergens, earning Academic All-American honors in 2019 and Bacon was the 2019 PFL Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
An elite group of 910 players from 255 schools qualified for membership in 2021, the Society's 15th year. The initiative has now honored 13,077 student-athletes since its inception.
"We are pleased to honor another impressive group of athletes as part of this year's Hampshire Honor Society," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "For more than a decade, the Hampshire Honor Society has served as a powerful vehicle for schools to recognize their college football players who have distinguished themselves both academically and athletically, and we congratulate the schools and each of these young men for their commitment to excellence in all aspects of their lives."
Nominated by their respective schools, members of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society must have:
- Completed their final year of playing eligibility in Fall 2020 or Spring 2021;
- Graduated players, who have remaining eligibility but will not return to collegiate play (e.g. declared for NFL Draft or retired from football), may also be nominated.
- Attained a minimum undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.2 (4.0 scale);
- Met all NCAA/NAIA-mandated progress towards degree requirements; and
- Been starters or significant contributors throughout the 2020-21 season.
The NFF Hampshire Honor Society capitalizes on the NFF's National Scholar-Athlete program by 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 at the 765 colleges and universities with football programs nationwide.
