Field Street Forum

“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.”

Blankenship, a four-year starter from Marietta, Ga., was the 2019 winner of the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s top place-kicker as well as a First Team All-America and CoSIDA Academic All-America selection.  Woerner, a four-year letterman from Tiger, Ga., played in 53 career games including 18 starts, mostly at tight end.  He was a member of the 2019 John Mackey Award watch list.

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 775 colleges and universities with football programs nationwide. The initiative has now honored 12,127 student-athletes since its inception.

Nominated by their respective schools, members of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society must have:

• Completed their final year of playing eligibility in 2019;
  • 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.
• Achieved a 3.2 cumulative grade point average throughout entire course of undergraduate study;
• Met all NCAA- or NAIA-mandated progress toward degree requirements; and
• Been starters or significant contributors throughout the 2019 season.