DALLAS – Gallaudet University senior offensive lineman Caleb Hinton (Knoxville, Tenn.) was selected as one of the best and brightest from the college gridiron as announced by The National Football Foundation (NFF) and College Hall of Fame on Thursday. Hinton is one of 127 candidates honored from the Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III and NAIA. From the pool of 127 candidates the NFF Awards Committee will select up to 16 recipients to be named to the 2011 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments. The 127 nominees also comprise the list of semifinalists for the 2011 William V. Campbell Trophy, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best scholar-athlete in the nation.
"This is a great honor for Caleb and for Gallaudet University. He has been a leader amongst his peers and has been our anchor on offense," said second-year Gallaudet head football coach Chuck Goldstein. "Caleb has excelled in the classroom and is a true role model for his teammates and fellow students on campus. It is great to see a young man work hard in the classroom and on the field get honored at this level."
Hinton, a senior co-captain, is a four-year letterwinner in football at Gallaudet. He has been a two-time Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) All-Academic team selection and has made Gallaudet's Dean's List all six semesters he has been here (Fall 2008 to present). Last season, Hinton earned the Gallaudet Coaches' Award for his play with the football team and was a Top 10 Scholar-Athlete at Gallaudet. On the field, Hinton has started 12 games and seen action in 19 games as a Bison. He has been very versatile, as he has played all five positions on Gallaudet's offensive line over his time here. Hinton, a Deaf Education major, is slated to graduate December 2012.
"This year's candidates truly embody the National Football Foundation's mission of building leaders through football," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning whose sons Peyton (1997 Campbell Trophy winner) and Eli were named NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. "They are standouts in the classroom and on the field and have become leaders in their respective communities. Each school should take great pride in being represented by such well-rounded young men who will undoubtedly go on to do great things in life."
Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each,
candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in
their final year of eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a
4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player
or significant contributor, and have demonstrated strong leadership
and citizenship. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards
Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of
media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics
administrators.
"The NFF would like to personally congratulate each of the nominees for maintaining such high standards throughout their collegiate careers," said NFF President & CEO Steven J. Hatchell. "We are extremely proud to showcase their achievements, and there is no question that the NFF Awards Committee will have an incredibly difficult task in selecting the final group of honorees from among this esteemed group."
The NFF Awards Committee will select up to 16 recipients, and the results will be announced via a national press release on Wednesday, October 26. Each recipient will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship, and they will vie as finalists for the 2011 William V. Campbell Trophy. Each member of the 2011 National Scholar-Athlete Class will also travel to New York City and be honored December 6 during the 54th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. One member of the class will also be announced live at the event as the winner of the Campbell Trophy.
Previous winners of the Campbell Trophy include Florida's Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tennessee's Peyton Manning (1997), Marshall's Chad Pennington (1999), Ohio State's Craig Krenzel (2003) and most recently Florida's Tim Tebow (2009) and Texas' Sam Acho (2010) to name a few of the college football standouts that have received this prestigious award since 1990.
Hinton is one of 30 nominees selected from Division III, which has the largest pool of teams (239) to choose from. He is one of two nominees that hail from the ECFC, the other being Norwich's Long Ding. Gallaudet is the only football program from D.C. represented among the 127 candidates.
Gallaudet has only had one NFF Scholar-Athlete honoree over the years and that happened in 1992 when Jeffrey Kurz was bestowed the great honor.
About NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards
The NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity
Investments, was established in 1959 as the first initiative in
history to honor scholar-athletes with post-graduate scholarships
for their combined athletic, academic and leadership abilities.
About the NFF & College Football Hall of
Fame
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas
MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal
journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation &
College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that
runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in
developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in
young people. With 121 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF
programs include the College Football Hall of Fame, the NFF
Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments, Play It
Smart, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, the NFF National
Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association, and scholarships of more than
$1.3 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. The NFF
presents the MacArthur Bowl, the William V. Campbell Trophy,
endowed by HealthSouth, and releases the Bowl Championship Series
(BCS) Standings. For more information, please visit www.footballfoundation.org.
2011 NFF NATIONAL SCHOLAR-ATHLETE CANDIDATES BY THE NUMBERS
3.60 Average GPA
27 Nominees with a 3.9 GPA or better
6 Nominees with a perfect 4.0 GPA
86 Team Captains
56 All-Conference Picks
17 Academic All-America Selections
10 All-America Selections
27 Players (among all divisions) represented in this
week's national top 25 polls
1 Player Formerly Named an NFF National High School
Scholar-Athlete
47 Nominees from the Football Bowl Subdivision
33 Nominees from the Football Championship Subdivision
11 Nominees from the Division II
30 Nominees from the Division III
6 Nominees from the NAIA
61 Offensive Players
50 Defensive Players
16 Special Teams Players
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