IRVING, Texas – Five Austin Peay State University football student-athletes who finished their collegiate careers in 2019 earned recognition on the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame's 2020 NFF Hampshire Honor Society, Wednesday.
Offensive lineman Kyle Anderton, kicker Logan Birchfield, wide receiver Kadeem Goulbourne, offensive lineman Hunter Schmeisser and linebacker Pat Walker each received acknowledgment on the 2020 listing. With their addition, 32 Austin Peay football student-athletes have been named to the NFF Hampshire Society all-time.
The Governors five honorees led all Ohio Valley Conference programs. The league saw 16 student-athletes from six schools recognized.
The NFF Hampshire Honor Society is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 grade-point average or better throughout their college careers. An impressive 1,432 players from 364 schools qualified for membership in the Society's 14th year.
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.
Anderton, of Gallatin, Tennessee, completed his bachelor's degree in May 2019 and is working toward a master's of science in leadership this May. Schmeisser, of Brentwood, Tennessee also graduated in May 2019 and was completing classes to earn a master's of science in management this May. The pair were offensive line stalwarts for a unit that led the OVC in scoring (34.5 ppg), total offense (419.2 ypg), third-down conversions (42.1 percent) and fourth-down conversions (62.1 percent). They also anchored a line that allowed just 1.00 sacks per game, ranking eighth nationally.
Birchfield, from Elizabethton, Tennessee, completed his bachelor's degree in general studies in May 2019. He closed his collegiate career with 92 consecutive PATs made. Birchfield converted a record 67 PATs in 2019, breaking his record of 41, and was true on 12 field goals – second-most in program history.
A Weston, Florida product, Goulbourne completed his bachelor's degree at Austin Peay and was completing work toward a master's of science in leadership. He caught a career-high 10 passes in 2019, including three in the Govs' victory against Murray State and also caught his first touchdown as part of the Govs' rout of Tennessee Tech.
Walker, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, graduated in May 2019 with a bachelor's of science in health and human performance and ended his APSU academic career. He finished 2019 with a career-best 108 tackles, including a season-best 14 tackles in the NCAA quarterfinal game at Montana State. He also picked off a pass at Eastern Kentucky and had five pass breakups.
