IRVING, Texas – The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced Wednesday that four former Cal football players – Chris Adcock, Cormac Craigie, James Langford and Joey Mahalic – have been selected to the 2015 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 career. A total of 826 players from 280 schools qualified for membership in the society’s ninth year, setting a new record for the number of schools represented in the history of the program, which began in 2007.
Adcock graduated from Cal in December of 2014 with a pair of bachelor’s degrees in business administration and interdisciplinary studies with a 3.534 cumulative GPA. Adcock was Cal’s first three-time first-team Pac-12 All-Academic selection (2012-14) since Mike Mohamed (2008-10) and a four-year letterwinner (2011-14). He also earned the Andrew L. Smith Scholarship given to a Cal football senior for academic excellence and was the school’s nominee for Pac-12 Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year during his final season in 2014. Adcock played in 31 career games with 27 starts including all 12 contests as a 2014 senior after returning from a knee injury that caused him to miss the final eight games of 2013. Adcock played a pivotal role as the starting center for a 2014 offensive unit that set or equaled nine single-season school or modern-era records and ranked in the top 25 nationally in seven categories. Off the field, he has been on mission trips to Africa and New Orleans, and been involved with Cal's Sage Mentorship Project in which football student-athletes spent time with kids in the local community mentoring them. He will begin pursuing a joint masters of public health and MD at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in May of 2015.
Craigie has a 3.251 cumulative GPA and is on track to graduate from Cal in May of 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern studies. He saw his first action at Cal in 2014 and recorded three tackles in two games played.
Langford has a 3.534 cumulative GPA and is on track to graduate from Cal in May of 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He played his lone season at Cal as a 2014 senior after joining the program in January of 2012 as a transfer from Cal Poly. He led the team in scoring with 89 points in 2014, making 11-of-17 field goal attempts and tying single-season school records for both PAT (56) and PAT attempts (57). He provided one of the most memorable moments of the season when he connected on a 34-yard field goal in the second overtime of a 59-56 double overtime win over Colorado.
Mahalic has a 3.268 cumulative GPA and is on track to graduate after only three years at Cal in May of 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Mahalic began his collegiate football career in 2012 at the age of 23 after spending five seasons as a minor league pitcher in the Cleveland Indians’ organization. Mahalic saw the first action of his Cal career in 2014.
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 who play football at the 772 colleges and universities with football programs nationwide. The initiative has honored 5,753 student-athletes since its inception, and the program has experienced growth every year in either members or school participation since its launch in 2007. The 280 schools represented in 2015 is a new high water mark, eclipsing the 267 schools in 2014. The total of 826 players in the 2015 class is the second-most in the program’s history, only 12 behind the 838 honored last year.
Jon F. Hanson, the chairman and founder of The Hampshire Companies, provided the 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. He currently serves the organization as a chairman emeritus. Each player awarded with membership in this year's Honor Society will receive a certificate commemorating their achievement.
Qualifications for membership in the NFF Hampshire Honor Society include being a starter or a significant contributor in one's last year of eligibility (or a senior who has declared for the NFL Draft) at an 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/NAIA-mandated progress towards degree requirements.
The Hampshire Honor Society represents a powerful component in the organization's rich history as an innovator in promoting the scholar-athlete ideal, which began in 1959 with the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards. Launched with a donation from Hall of Fame coach Earl "Red" Blaik, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments, became the first initiative in history to grant postgraduate scholarships based on a player's combined academic success, football performance and community leadership. And, since its inception, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards program has awarded $10.7 million to 804 top scholars and community leaders.
Currently, the NFF distributes more than $300,000 a year at the national level through the program to 16 individuals. Each winner of a National Scholar-Athlete Award receives an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship. Additionally, the William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments and hosted at the New York Athletic Club, is given to one member of each year's class as the absolute best. The winner of the Campbell Trophy, claimed by Academic All-American and All-ACC linebacker David Helton (Duke) in 2014, receives a total scholarship of $25,000 and a 24-inch, 25-pound bronze trophy. Cal’s Alex Mack won the prestigious honor then known as the Draddy Trophy for his performance during the 2008 season. Through its chapter networks the NFF also awards an additional $1.3 million to local high school student-athletes, bringing the NFF's annual scholarship distribution total to more than $1.6 million.
