A total of 620 players from 246 schools qualified for membership in the society’s fourth year, an 80 percent increase from the inaugural class in 2007.

"I’m very proud of these young men, not only because they were great students and great football players, but because they graduated," head football coach Rickey Bustle said. 

The award is just one of many for Fisher who graduated in December 2009 with a 3.33 GPA in Accounting. He was named First Team-All Sun Belt for the second consecutive season. He was also on the Rimington Trophy, Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award watch lists. In 2009, he was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team and is a two-time Sun Belt Commissioner’s honoree.

Hayes graduated in May of 2009 with a 3.80 GPA in Accounting while taking graduate classes towards his MBA during the season. In 2009, he was a semi-finalist for the 20^th Anniversary William V. Campbell Trophy.  He was also named to the Sun Belt Commissioner’s List four times throughout his career.

Nevels, a perennial resident of the Sun Belt Commissioner’s List, graduated in December of 2009. He held a GPA of 3.82 in Anthropology with minors in History and English. In 2009, he was named UL’s Outstanding Graduate in the College of Liberal Arts.

Former Cajuns Lamar Morgan and Michael Desormeaux were members of the 2008 and 2009 NFF Hampshire Honor Society, respectively.  Both Desormeaux and Morgan were named a semifinalist for the Draddy Trophy during their respective senior season.

Qualifications for membership in the NFF Hampshire 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.

The Hampshire Honor Society becomes the latest component of the organization’s efforts to promote combined athletic and academic success. Launched in 1959 with a donation from Hall of Fame coach Earl "Red" Blaik, the NFF’s National Scholar-Athlete Awards program became the first initiative in history to grant postgraduate scholarships based on a player’s combined academic success, football performance and community leadership.

Since its inception, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards program has awarded $9.2 million to 724 top scholars and community leaders. Currently, the NFF distributes more than $300,000 a year at the national level through the program to 15 individuals. Each winner of a National Scholar-Athlete Award receives an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship. Additionally, the Campbell Trophy (formerly known as the Draddy Trophy), endowed by HealthSouth, is given to one member of each year’s class as the absolute best. The winner of the Campbell, claimed by Florida quarterback Tim Tebow in 2009, receives a total scholarship of $25,000 and a 24-inch, 25-pound bronze trophy. Through its chapter network, the NFF awards an additional $800,000 to local high school student-athletes, bringing the NFF’s annual scholarship total to more than $1.1 million.