Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

For the first time in the 13-year history of the National Football Foundation’s Hampshire Honor Society program, three San Jose State Spartans players from one team are receiving the prestigious recognition.

Quarterback Michael Carrillo, a master’s degree candidate in business administration; kicker Bryce Crawford, a communications studies major; and long snapper Harrison Hoffman, a business accounting major, are seniors from the 2018 Spartan team invited into the Society.

“It’s awesome. Those thee players are such incredible young men who did everything right all the time. It’s exciting to see them get recognized for their efforts academically,” said SJSU head coach Brent Brennan.

“We know how hard it is to balance the challenge of school and football and being a Division I athlete. Those guys all were exceptional. We were lucky to have them be important members of our football program.”

Football student-athletes from all NCAA and NAIA Divisions qualify for admission by maintaining a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average or better throughout their college careers, been significant players on their team during the 2018 season, and have completed their final year of eligibility.

“It means a lot. I value education a lot. To get the recognition at the end of all of it, all the hard work wasn’t for nothing. It’s pretty special,” said Hoffman, who first joined SJSU in 2017 and plans to work in public accounting after graduation.

“School is very important to me. It’s nice to get recognition when you work so hard for something.”

“It’s nice to be recognized for all the hard work we put in on and off the field. Here at San Jose (State), we put a lot of emphasis on school and making sure we excel in the classroom before we excel on the football field. It’s something I take a lot of pride in,” said Crawford, a 2018 nominee for the NFF’s Campbell Trophy, known as the “Academic Heisman.”

A record-number 1,643 student-athletes from 424 colleges and universities were named. The Society is an extension of the organization’s national scholar-athlete program. More than 10,000 student-athletes have been honored since the program’s inception.

Previous SJSU inductees include defensive end Travis Johnson (2012); guard Nicholas Kaspar and offensive tackle Jon Meyer (2013); linebacker Vince Buhagiar (2014); offensive lineman Wes Schweitzer (2015); linebacker Mark Amann and wide receiver Tim Crawley (2016); and offensive lineman Nate Velichko (2017).