Hand Grad Is On National Football Foundation Team of Distinction

MADISON, CT —Jacob Daignault, a National Honor Society member who recently graduated from Daniel Hand High School with a 5.0 GPA, was an offensive guard for the Hand Tigers football team. From a pool of 3,500 scholar-athletes, the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame recently announced the 65 members of the 2021 NFF Team of Distinction, according to a news release from the NFF. And Daignault is one of them.

Criteria to make the team include but are not limited to academic achievement, athletic accolades and community involvement. Each chapter is limited to one honoree, distinguishing them as the top scholar-athlete from all the high schools covered by the chapter.

“This initiative allows us to shine a national spotlight on some of the most deserving high school student-athletes honored at the local level by our expansive Chapter Network,” said NFF chairman Archie Manning. “This honor is one of the most prestigious national awards that a high school player can receive. We would like to congratulate all 65 honorees for their success on and off the field, especially with the challenges caused by the pandemic during their senior year.”

As part of its mission to promote the scholar-athlete ideal, the initiative allows the NFF to honor the top high school scholar-athletes from around the country as the best and the brightest at the local level while highlighting the work of the NFF Chapter Network.

"We are very pleased that that Jacob was chosen to receive this high honor," president of the Casey-O'Brien New Haven County Chapter of the NFF Bill O'Brien said.

Daignault demonstrated excellence in the classroom taking the most rigorous Advanced Placement courses offered including Spanish, English, physics, calculus and US History. He received Spanish 6 Honors, was a member of the National Honor Society and won the Language Arts Award and the Social Studies Award. He also achieved a 5.0 GPA. A Peer Advocate, he was a member of the Uganda Club and the Diversity Club and was recognized by being named to American Legion Boys State and also received the Madison Youth/Family Services Humanitarian Award, O'Brien said.

Daignault was a three-year starter for the Tigers that won two consecutive state
championships in 2017 and 2018. He is the son on Marc and Sandy Daignault and is attending
UConn.

The NFF noted that the scholar athletes chosen all played their final high school football season during the 2020-21 school year. As part of the award, all of the honorees will be part of a permanent digital display at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

Since 1954, the NFF Chapters have played an integral role in supporting and promoting the game of football at the amateur level while honoring the top scholar-athletes in their local areas. With more than 12,000 members, the nationwide NFF Chapter Network impacts more than 500,000 student-athletes at 5,000 high schools across the country each year.

The centerpiece of the Chapter Network’s efforts are the annual chapter awards banquets, which recognize more than 3,500 of the nation’s top scholar-athletes and distribute more than
$1 million in scholarships.

Despite the pandemic, the NFF chapters exhibited creativity and ingenuity to honor their local scholar-athletes through virtual events, drive-thru events and in person banquets (when allowed by local protocols).