Football | 4/22/2025 12:10:00 PM

IRVING, Texas - Bloomsburg football had 12 players honored by the National Football Foundation as members of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, as announced last week.

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced last week a record number of members for the 2025 NFF Hampshire Honor Society, which comprises college football players from all divisions of the NCAA, NAIA and sprint football who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college careers. Click here for the 2025 list of members.

The 12 honorees from Bloomsburg included Owen Anderson (Cogan Station, Pa./Jersey Shore Area), John Aston (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley), Matthew Bowes (Somerton, Pa./La Salle College HS), Nate Capers (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford), Ryan D'Ambra (Southampton, Pa./Archbishop Wood), Jack Ferguson (Sellersville, Pa./Pennridge), Devin Fleming (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park), Tom Goetz (Wenonah, N.J./Gateway Regional), Neurys Ortiz (Union City, N.J./Union City), Peyton Persing (Danville, Pa./Danville Area), Ben Ries (Bloomsbury, N.J./Phillipsburg), and John Shallo (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin). Bloomsburg's 12 was second to just Colorado School of Mines, which led NCAA DII with 13.
 
A record 2,519 players from 339 schools qualified for membership in 2025, marking the largest class in the program's 19-year history. Since its inception, the initiative has honored 20,933 student-athletes. This year's members represented six divisions: 689 from the FBS, 532 from the FCS, 212 from Division II, 981 from Division III, 58 from the NAIA, and 47 sprint football players. They hailed from schools in every state and the District of Columbia—except Alaska, which does not sponsor an eligible college football program. The FBS cohort came from 120 schools, reflecting a 90 percent participation rate. 
 
"In today's era of NIL and the transfer portal, we firmly believe that education remains the key to long-term success," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "These results reaffirm that academics are still top of mind for today's student-athletes. We salute the schools, coaches, and administrators who continue to champion education as a core part of the student-athlete experience. We'll keep doing everything we can to promote those academic ideals and ensure education stays central to the holistic development of every student-athlete."
 
Nominated by their respective schools, members of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society must meet one of the following criteria:

• Be a senior player graduating this spring/summer who completed his final year of playing eligibility in 2024; or
• Be a graduated player or grad transfer who has already earned a bachelor's degree and competed in the 2024 season (even if the player has remaining eligibility and may return to play next season).

And must have:

• Attained a minimum undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.2 (4.0 scale); and
• Been starters or contributors throughout the 2024 season.

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 774 colleges and universities with football programs nationwide.