BEVERLY, Mass. – For the second straight year, Endicott senior defensive lineman Craig Anderson (Franklin, Mass.) has been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III Football Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). With his second team honor this season, and his first team selection in 2015, Anderson is now the first-ever two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America® award winner in the College's history.
Anderson, a criminal justice major with a 3.89 cumulative grade point average (GPA), recorded 28 tackles (15 solo), four sacks, two quarterback hurries and a blocked kick in 2016. Anderson finished his career with 21.5 sacks, second-best in school history, while recording 204 tackles (95 solo) and 40.5 tackles for-loss.
He has also earned All-New England Football Conference (NEFC) first team honors in both 2016 and 2015, while garnering second team honors in 2014 and Defensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2013. Additionally, he was a D3football.com All-East Region second team honoree in 2015.
Meanwhile, Anderson's academic merits include two NEFC Academic All-Conference selections, and the National Football Foundation's Jack Grinold Eastern Massachusetts Chapter Jack Daly Award for Academics, Citizenship and Football, which he picked up in 2015.
A full breakdown of Anderson's academic and athletic awards can be found below.
Academic
- 2016 CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District First Team
- 2016 Jack Daly Award for Academics, Citizenship, and Football recipient
- Spring 2016 Dean's List
- Fall 2015 Dean's List
- 2015 CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-American First Team
- 2015 CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District First Team
- 2015 NEFC Academic All-Conference
- 2014 NEFC Academic All-Conference
- 2014 Endicott Academic Varsity Club
- 2014 CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District First Team
- National Honor Society member while at Franklin High
- Jack Grinold Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of the National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award
- Franklin Gridiron Club Academic Excellence Award
Athletic
- 2016 NEFC All-Conference First Team Defensive Line
- 2015 D3football.com All-East Region Second Team
- 2015 NEFC All-Conference First Team
- 2015 USA College Football DIII Preseason All-American Honorable Mention
- 2015 D3football.com Team of the Week honoree (9/29/15)
- 2015 NEFC Defensive Player of the Week (9/26/15)
- 2014 NEFC Second Team Defensive Line
- 2014 NEFC Defensive Player of the Week (10/12)
- 2013 NEFC Defensive Rookie of the Year
- 2x Endicott captain
- Hockomock League All-Star while at Franklin High
- Selected to play in the Shriners Football Classic
- 1x Daily News Defensive Player of the Week honoree
CoSIDA Academic All-America Program Requirements
The CoSIDA Academic All-America® program recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined academic and athletic performances. Over his illustrious career, Anderson has compiled three CoSIDA Academic All-District first team honors, to go along with his two CoSIDA Academic All-America® awards.
All first team Academic All-District winners, which includes eight districts total, move to the national ballot, and are then voted upon to the national team by members of CoSIDA's Academic All-America Committee.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his current institution and be nominated by his sports information director.
Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 15,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
For more information about the Academic All-America Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.