Football News
Murphy earns NFF Hampshire Honor Society Membership
(Portions of this story were taken from the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, Inc. web site)
Centre College defensive lineman Neil Murphy (Shelbyville, Ky.) was recently named one of the newest members of the 2009 National Football Foundation (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.
The honor was awarded by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame. 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.
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