Hammer is the only active player on the squad of 35 of the top conference players in the past ten years as voted on by current and former NCAC coaches. He was named a Street & Smith’s 2003 Preseason First Team All-American and was a Football Gazette 2003 Preseason All-American Third Team selection. Hammer finished the 2002 season with 61 tackles and 17 tackles for losses. He added 8-1/2 sacks to his season total, giving him 22-1/2 for his career. He need five sacks this season to tie the school record for career sacks set by his brother, B.J.
Blair scored his first career touchdown as a Little Giant last season, returning an interception 30 yards for the game-winning score against Wittenberg in the NCAA Playoffs. He finished the game with 10 tackles, including seven solo stops, 4-1/2 tackles for losses totaling 20 yards, and three sacks for 16 yards. He helped the Wabash defense to a top-20 ranking in total defense, holding opponents to 253.3 yards per game. Wabash was eighth in the nation in rushing defense, keeping opposing runners to only 75.7 yards per contest.
Knott started every game in his four-year career as a quarterback at Wabash, throwing for a school-record 11,213 yards and 116 touchdowns. He also set the school mark for career total offense (12,054 yards), passing yards in a season (2,954 yards in 2002), in a game (459 against Allegheny in 2000), and touchdown passes in a game (six against Hiram and Allegheny in 2000), and a season (35 in 2002). Knott only played three seasons in the NCAC after the Little Giants started playing football in the conference in 2000, but he still managed to set several NCAC records. He owns the marks for TD passes in a game (six), total offense in a season (3,225 yards in 2001), passing yards in a career (8,595), and career touchdown throws (95).
Knott was named the conference’s best offensive player twice, earning the Mike Gregory Offensive Player of the Year Award in 2001 and 2002. He was also named to the Hewlett-Packard 2002 All-American Third Team. He finished his career ranked fifth in NCAA Division III history in touchdown passes, third in career passing yards, and third in career total offense yards. His numbers place him in a tie for 13th on the all-time NCAA career total offense list. Knott ranks 18th on the NCAA’s all-time passing list, ahead of such notable college players as Peyton Manning and Drew Brees.
Short rewrote the conference records for touchdown receptions, hauling in 17 last year as a senior tight end. The 2002 consensus All-American hauled in 45 career touchdown passes, setting the Indiana collegiate record. He also set the Wabash mark for career receptions (243) and touchdown receptions in a game (four against DePauw last year). He was named a Hewlett-Packard First Team All-American in 2001 and 2002, and was a d3football.com, AFCA, and Football Gazette First Team All-American last season. Short earned a spot on the Associated Press Little All-American Third Team in 2002, as well.
The NCAC, launched in the fall of 1984, was founded with a strong commitment to equity and excellence and has been a model to change the face of college athletics at all levels in the NCAA. The conference provides college athletic opportunities for 5,000 student-athletes in 22 sports each year. It provides those opportunities without the benefit of a major television contract, and is funded directly from the regular college budget.