IRVING, Texas – The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Football Hall of Fame announced three BYU football players, Talon Shumway, Mitch Harris and Beau Hoge, as members of the 2020 NFF Hampshire Honor Society.
The Honor Society is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college careers that concluded in 2019. There were 1,432 players from 364 schools qualified for membership in the Society's 14th year.
"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."
Shumway, an exercise science major and wide receiver, finished his career with 93 receptions, 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns. Shumway was also one of 185 semifinalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy, recognizing the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation. Harris, a global supply chain management major, was BYU’s primary long snapper for three seasons while Hoge, a sociology major, played both quarterback and running back as a Cougar before injuries slowed his football career in 2018.
With 64 overall honorees, BYU sets the pace among all FBS programs for the most players to earn recognition in the NFF Hampshire Honor Society since the inception of the program in 2007. Minnesota (52 honorees), Duke (47), Rice (46) and Ohio State (45) round out the top five among FBS programs. BYU is one of eight FBS schools to have had at least one player honored in all 14 years of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society (2007-20) along with Minnesota, West Virginia, Penn State, Colorado, Kentucky, Iowa and SMU.
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.