IRVING, Texas (April 8, 2026) - At a time of significant change across college football, the National Football Foundation (NFF) is marking 20 years of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society and recognizing academic excellence across the sport, reinforcing a consistent truth: football continues to develop disciplined, educated leaders at scale.
 
Celebrating its 20^th anniversary, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society has recognized 23,568 student-athletes from 691 schools since 2007. The 2026 class, which includes a record 2,596 players from 365 schools, represents the largest group in the program's history and underscores the sustained academic achievement taking place across all levels of college football.  This year's members represented six divisions: 853 from the FBS, 497 from the FCS, 267 from Division II, 876 from Division III, 68 from the NAIA, and 35 sprint football players. They hailed from schools in every state and the District of Columbia—except Alaska, which does not sponsor an eligible college football program.. 

Among the group of elite scholar-athletes honored were five members of the Eastern Illinois football team in Tienne Fridge, Brett Galletti, Jesse Garza, Jihad McCall and Joe McNab.
 
Those five were among the ten total student-athletes from the OVC-Big South Football Association.   Tennessee Tech had two representatives with one each from Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb and Western Illinois.

"Twenty years ago, college coaches around the country came to the National Football Foundation asking us to recognize not just their top student-athlete, but the numerous student-athletes on their teams who were also excelling at the highest levels in the classroom," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "Their voices led to the creation of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, and two decades later, the results speak for themselves. Year after year, we continue to see remarkable academic achievements across college football."
 
Nominated by their respective schools, members of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society must be either:
A senior player, who will graduate this spring/summer, and just completed his final year of playing eligibility in 2025; or
A graduated player, who has been out of high school at least (3) years;
And must have:
Attained a minimum undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.2 (4.0 scale); and
Been starters or contributors throughout the 2025 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 772 colleges and universities with football programs nationwide.