Hobart and William Smith Colleges

2 October 2020 National Football Foundation Names Hackett 21 Finalist

Hobart College senior kickerKyle Hackettis a semifinalist for the National Football Foundations William V. Campbell Trophy presented by Mazda. The award recognizes an individual as the absolute best in the country for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.

An economics major, Hackett is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District and two-time Liberty League All-Academic honoree. The Deans List student was a recipient of the 2019 Arnold Memorial Scholar-Athlete Award. He is a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the international economics honor society.

Hackett is the best kicker in the 126-season history of Statesmen football. In three seasons, he produced 208 points on 115 PATs and 31 field goals. Hackett is the only one of eight Hobart players to score 200 or more career points that isnt a running back. He made the first 20 field goal attempts of his career, the Statesmen record for consecutive makes as well as the Hobart career record for field goals made (19, Eric Ampuja 05). Hackett also holds the Hobart career record for field goal percentage (86.1, 31-36).

Hacketts performance on the field has merited an impressive array of accolades. He was a 2018 AFCA second team All-American. Hackett was a two-time D3football.com All-East Region selection. The three-time All-Liberty League pick was the 2017 and 2018 Liberty League Special Teams Co-Player of the Year.

Hackett is one of two Statesmen to make 30 or more PATs in a season without missing. As a sophomore, he converted all 37 of his extra point kicks, joining Conor Callahan 12 (31-31 in 2010). Last season, Hackett broke Hobarts season record for field goals made, booting 12 to eclipse the 40-year-old record established by Shawn Fazio 81. In 2017, he was the only kicker in NCAA football to average 1.0 field goal made per game without missing (10-10 in 10 games). The following year, he was once again perfect, leading Division III in field goal percentage (9-9 in 9 games).

Not surprisingly, Hacketts name is stamped all over the Hobart game records too. He twice kicked a record eight PATs in a game and converted a record 51 consecutive PATs from 2017 to 2019. Hackett ended the 2019 regular season with a Hobart record for points by kicking, making six PATs and three FGs for 15 points at Rochester. It broke his own record of 13 points against Morrisville State in 2018.

A record 199 semifinalists were nominated as the best all-around student-athlete on their respective football teams. Each nominee 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 candidates come from all levels of play in the NCAA and the NAIA.

The NFF will announce the Campbell Trophy finalists in November, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. One of the finalists will be named the winner of the 31st Campbell Trophy presented by Mazda, and his postgraduate scholarship will be increased to $25,000.

Hackett is the sixth Statesman to be a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy. He joinsCollin Hudgins20, Kai Brandford 19, Troy Robinson 15,Michael Green 14and Brian Monaco 10.

Hackett is one of 40 semifinalists from Division III and one of two from the Liberty League. He is one of 18 semifinalists to be named an All-American and one of 20 special teams semifinalists.