Clay Garcia holds Alamosa's Football 3A State Championship trophy from the 2006/07 season.

DURANGO, Colo.— The Colorado Chapter of the National Football Foundation is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2018.  The NFFCC Board of Directors has selected an 11-member anniversary team, representing the best and brightest student-athletes from the past 25 years.

Alamosa's own Clay Garcia will be among those recognized. A Gold Helmet Winner for Colorado School of Mines, Clay Garcia earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering.  He played quarterback for the Orediggers from 2008-11, and was a two-time Harlan Hill Trophy Finalist.  

The NFFCC Player of the Year, Garcia was named the 2011 Capital One Division II Academic All-America Football Player of the Year, and was a first team selection.  He finished his career completing 671 passes (1,081 attempts) for 7,657 yards and 61 touchdowns in 37 career games.  Garcia is an Engineer for BPH Billiton in Houston, Texas.

To give an idea of what kind of an honor this is Garcia will be among the likes of Nate Solder and Christian McCaffrey. Currently an offensive lineman for the New England Patriots who drafted him in the first round in 2011, Nate Solder played offensive tackle for CU from 2007-10. Solder, who started his career at CU as a redshirt tight end, is an Academic All-America performer. A National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete in 2010 and a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, Solder played in 49 career games, earning a degree in Biology.  The Buena Vista product was a finalist for the Outland Trophy Award, and has won two Super Bowls for the Pats.

Christian McCaffrey played running back for the Stanford Cardinal from 2014-16.  A runner up to the Heisman Trophy, McCaffrey started three years and won the Gold Helmet Award while earning Consensus All-American honors.  The AP Player of the Year and Hornung Award winner also earned consensus All-American honors.  A graduate with a Communications degree, he is the NCAA FBS record holder for most all-purpose yards in a season (3,864, 2015 season). McCaffrey finished his career at Stanford with 6,987 all-purpose yards, 3,922 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns in 38 games (25 starts).  He added 99 receptions for 1,206 yards and 10 touchdowns, and 1,479 kickoff return yards (one touchdown).  McCaffrey was selected eighth overall in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.

The 2018 National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Colorado Chapter Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet will be held on Monday, April 9, 2018 at the Denver West Marriott (1717 Denver-West Marriott Blvd., Golden).  Admission to the banquet is $65 per person, or $600 for one table (seats 10).  To RSVP for the event, contact Dick DeWire at [email protected].