For the majority of the 29 members of this year’s class of Jack Grinold / Eastern Massachusetts Scholar-Athletes, their entry point to varsity football was the cancellation of the 2020 fall season because of the pandemic. Then, they put the pads back on in late February for the newly-created Fall II season in 2021. There were ‘Thanksgiving’ games in April.
Now, as graduating seniors, they will be deservedly honored by the National Football Foundation for their excellence in the classroom as well as on the field.
On May 21, the Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of the NFF will hold its 48th annual dinner at the Boston Newton Marriott to honor this year’s Scholar-Athletes.
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“After every scholar-athlete class is honored, we often say as a group that it can’t get any better than this — and then it does,” said Jim Seavey, the chapter’s executive director.
“It’s a privilege for the Grinold Chapter to once again recognize the 29 outstanding young men who comprise this year’s class. They have excelled on the field, in the classroom and in their communities, and they embody the commitment that is required to achieve at the highest level. We couldn’t be more proud as an organization to carry on this great tradition.”
The 29 members of the class of 2023 Scholar-Athletes include:
Will Astorino (King Philip / Tufts); Landon Bailey (St. Sebastian’s / Middlebury); Carson Browne (St. John’s Prep / Bentley); Johnny Cacace (Watertown); Samuel Carpenter (Foxborough / Pittsburgh); Brady Carroll (Sandwich / Williams); Alex Carucci (North Reading / Union); Jack Crowley (Milton Academy / Harvard); Shawn Czado (Westford Academy); Ryan Darby (Pembroke / WPI); Ryan DeGirolamo (Mansfield / Bridgewater State); Andrew Finn (Foxborough / Bates); Jacob Holtschlag (Milton Academy / Georgetown); Isaac Jones (Dexter Southfield / Bowdoin); Isaiah Kacyvenski Jr. (BB&N / Harvard); Matthew Kelley (King Philip / Amherst); Austin McCarthy (Catholic Memorial / Wesleyan); Christopher Milmoe (Belmont Hill); Jon Mould (Xaverian / Harvard); Finn Murphy (North Andover / St. Lawrence); James Murphy (Reading / Brown); Mikey Nabbout (St. John’s Prep / Columbia); Drew Sacco (Mansfield); Leo Sarzana (BB&N / Rochester); Tagh Swierzewski (Stoughton); Jack Tosone (Pembroke / Trinity); Andrew Wetterwald (Andover/ Trinity); Takai Whitmore (Dexter Southfield / Bucknell); and Conner Zukowski (Mansfield / Nichols).
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In addition to the Scholar-Athletes, the chapter will present four awards, the Ed Schluntz Contribution to Amateur Football Award, the Ron Burton Distinguished American Award, the Roger Crosley Chapter Contributor Award, and the Jack Daly Award for academics, citizenship, and football. The winners will be announced later this month.
Tickets for the dinner are $75 and can be ordered at grinoldchapter.com
Craig Larson can be reached at craig.larson@globe.com.