RICHMOND, Ky. – Three Eastern Kentucky University football players – Evan Cromer, Robert Dees and #Logan O’Connor# – were named to the 2011 NFF Hampshire Honor Society, as announced by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame Wednesday.

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 and graduation.

Dees earned his bachelor’s degree in business last May while Cromer and O’Connor are scheduled to earn their collegiate diplomas this year. Cromer was a four-year contributor at wide receiver where he finished with 69 receptions and 724 receiving yards. Dees was a reliable defensive back who tallied a career-best 61 tackles in 2009. O’Connor served as the team’s punter and placekicker throughout his collegiate career.

The group is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who each maintained a 3.2 GPA or better. A total of 671 players from 241 schools qualified for membership in the society’s fifth year, showing a steady increase in membership each year since the inaugural class in 2007.

The NFF Hampshire Honor Society capitalizes on the NFF’s current National Scholar-Athlete program, greatly expanding the number of scholar-athletes the NFF can recognize each year and further strengthening the organization’s leadership role in encouraging academic performance by the student-athletes who play football at the more than 700 college and universities with football programs nationwide. Jon F. Hanson, the chairman and founder of The Hampshire Companies, provided an 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. Each of the 671 players awarded with membership in this year’s Honor Society will receive a certificate commemorating the achievement.

“We encourage every football-playing school in the country to get involved in this most important initiative,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, “Thanks to the generosity of Jon F. Hanson, we have honored nearly 3,000 of our nation’s best and brightest college players over the past five years. This program truly shows the power of football in building tomorrow’s leaders.”