Kelley Selected As Member Of National Football Foundation Hampshire Society
Kelley had a career best 56 tackles and five sacks in 2014 to lead the defense. Along with his 3.42 GPA entering the spring semester, Kelley was selected as a 2015 member of the National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society. | Photo credit: usajaguars.com
South Alabama’s Jesse Kelley was selected as a member of the 2015 National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society on Wednesday. A total of 817 student-athletes from 278 schools qualified for membership in the society in its ninth year of existence, which sets a new record for the number of schools represented in the history of the program since it began in 2007.
In order to qualify for membership, one must be a starter or significant contributor in one’s last year of eligibility (or a senior who has declared for the NFL Draft) at an NCAA FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III or NAIA college or university; achieve a 3.2 cumulative GPA throughout their entire course of undergraduate study; and meeting all NCAA/NAIA-mandated progress towards their degree requirements.
Kelley will earn his degree from USA in less than two weeks as a meteorology major with a minor in geology with a 3.42 GPA entering his final semester. Earlier this week he was presented with the “Jim Yance Heart of a Jaguar Award” at the Pete Tolbert Night of Champions. The senior was a first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District selection in the fall as a defensive lineman and has been a member of the Sun Belt Conference Commissioners List each of the last two years.
Kelley helped the Jaguars earn a berth in the program’s first-ever postseason bowl game against Bowling Green in the inaugural Raycom Media Camellia Bowl in December. He earned honorable mention All-Conference accolades in 2014 after leading the defense with a career-best 56 total stops and five sacks. He equaled his previous high with 6.5 tackles for loss and also broke up two passes. In 42 games over five seasons he earned three letters while recording 116 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks.