Johnson named Colorado Scholar-Athlete of the Year by National Football Foundation

Air Force graduated senior Kyle Johnson has been named the Colorado Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the National Football Foundation, Colorado Chapter. Johnson's selection highlights 14 Falcons named to the NFF academic all-Colorado teams.

Air Force had nine players earn first-team honors while five earned honorable mention accolades. First-team members had to have a 3.3 grade point average or higher while honorable mention status was for student-athletes with a 3.0 to 3.29 GPA. The complete list follows below.

Johnson graduated in April from the Academy and earned a commission as part of the inaugural class to the United States Space Force. His first assignment is to attend Harvard's Kennedy School to obtain a master's degree in public policy.

Johnson graduated with a 3.93 grade point average with a major in business management. He was Air Force's Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the top academic honor a cadet-athlete can earn from the Academy. He ranked 14th in his graduation class and 10th in order of merit, which includes academics, athletics and military training.

He earned the Defender of the Nation Award earlier this season by the Charlotte Touchdown Club for excellence in academics and athletics. He was a second-team all-Mountain West selection and finished second on the team in total tackles with 82. He also had 5.5 tackles for loss and an interception return for a touchdown. Johnson earned the team's Brian Bullard Award, which is the highest honor a football player can receive and represents the player that is unselfish and gives 100 percent in every area.

Air Force capped a historic season with a 31-21 win over Washington State in the Cheez-It Bowl Dec. 27 in Phoenix, Ariz. The win gave Air Force an 11-2 overall record. The Falcons closed the season with an eight-game winning streak, the program's longest in one season since 1998. The eight-game winning streak ties as the third longest overall in program history and is the second longest active streak in the nation. Air Force was ranked in the final national polls for the first time since 1998, as the Falcons finished 22nd in the Associated Press poll with 209 points and 23rd in the USA Today Coaches poll with 265 points.

Air Force First-Team Honorees
Kyle Johnson, Sr., ILB, 3.93, Business Management
Garrett Kauppila, Sr., DB, 3.85, Business Management
Dane Kinamon, Fr., WR, 3.38, Undeclared
Nicholas Noyen, Jr., OL, 3.20, Behavioral Science
Elisha Palm, Jr., DB, 3.28, Operations Research
Ben Peterson, Jr., WR, 3.60, Civil Engineering
Isaiah Sanders, Sr., QB, 3.83, Systems Engineering
Mike Schmidt, Sr., QB, 3.49, Business Management
Corvan Taylor, Soph., DB, 3.43, Astronautical Engineering

Honorable Mention
Jeremy Fejedelem, Sr., DB, 3.19, Management
Rhett Harms, Jr., TE, 3.25, Mathematics
Nolan Laufenberg, Jr., OL, 3.17, Management
Michael Purcell, Jr., DL, 3.18, Civil Engineering
Connor Vikupitz, Sr., OL, 3.29, Physics

Johnson named Colorado Scholar-Athlete of the Year by National Football Foundation

Players Mentioned

Jeremy Fejedelem

Rhett Harms

Kyle Johnson

Garrett Kauppila

Dane Kinamon

Nolan Laufenberg

Nicholas Noyen

Elisha Palm

Ben Peterson

Michael Purcell

Isaiah Sanders

Mike Schmidt

Corvan Taylor

Connor Vikupitz

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