DALLAS, Texas -- #A.J. Harris#, who concluded his collegiate football career as a running back for the Elon Phoenix in 2011, has earned induction into the National Football Foundation (NFF) Hampshire Honor Society in recognition of his outstanding accomplishments in the classroom, in the community and on the playing field.  He is one 728 players from 233 schools nationally in this class.  This year's class as the largest since the program's creation in 2007.

The NFF Hampshire Honor Society is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college career.

Harris was a first-team Academic All-District selection as well as a FCS Athletic Directors Association Academic All-Star each of the past three seasons.

In his senior season, Harris rushed for a team-leading 560 yards on 145 carries.  He was also tied for third on the squad with 39 catches for 290 yards.  Against both Concord and Samford, Harris scooped up blocked punts and returned the ball for a touchdown.  In a victory over 17th ranked Furman, Harris ran for a season-high 111 yards on 31 carries.  He also caught four passes for 54 yards in that win.

Over his career, Harris rushed for 1,956 yards and 16 touchdowns while racking up 1,097 receiving yards and five touchdown catches.  The 16 rushing scores rate fourth in Elon's Division I history and his rushing yardage total is the third-most for the program since the move to Division I.  In 2008 Harris was a part of the second-longest pass play in Elon history when he took a screen pass 91 yards in a victory over Samford.

"The growing number of students involved in the Hampshire Honor Society each year shows that football student-athletes not only play at the highest level but that they are some of the best students on campus as well," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell.  "We salute each one of these young men for their commitment to education and their leadership on and off the football field."

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.  The program further strengthens 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 the 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. He currently serves the organization as a chairman emeritus.

"Thanks to the generosity of Jon Hanson, we have honored more than 3,000 student-athletes in the last six years," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning.  "The Hampshire Honor Society allows us to showcase how much football matters in building tomorrow's leaders, and we strongly encourage every football-playing school in the country to get involved."

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.