Division III football will come to Arkansas after the Hendrix College Board of Trustees decided to add the sport, contingent on the ability to raise start-up costs through external sources.

Hendrix, which began studying the feasibility a year ago, will be the only Division III football program in Arkansas.

"Athletics have always been secondary to academics here at Hendrix, and that will never change," said president J. Timothy Cloyd in a release. "We believe that Division III athletics enhances the whole person academically by providing opportunities to compete athletically against our peer institutions, and adding (football and women's lacrosse) only increases the opportunity for our students to compete on the playing field."

The Warriors discontinued their football program after 1960, citing the cost of fielding a team and frustration with the inability to compete against other Arkansas colleges offering athletic scholarships. A target date for launching the football program has not been established, but at this point in the year, either 2009 or 2010 are possibilities.

Hendrix is a member of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, which recently added Austin (2006), Colorado College (2007) and Birmingham-Southern (2007). Southwestern and Oglethorpe are the only two SCAC members without a football program. Hendrix would be the 10th football member of the conference.

Two Division III players were drafted and others have signed contracts or been invited to minicamps.

Wheaton defensive end Andy Studebaker came off the board first, going to the Eagles with the No. 203 overall pick. He's projected as an outside linebacker in the NFL. Mount Union wide receiver Pierre Garcon went two picks later, to the Indianapolis Colts, at pick No. 205. They were the only two D-III players drafted.

Studebaker played in just five games for the Thunder this season before injuring his foot. He had six and a half tackles for loss and five sacks in that time, finishing his Wheaton career with 30 sacks.

Garcon caught 67 passes for 955 yards and 14 touchdowns for Mount Union in the Purple Raiders' run to the Stagg Bowl. "He's probably in truth a work in progress, but we'll see," Colts president Bill Polian said on the team's Web site. "All of the measurable(s) are there. He certainly would have been the first guy we went after after the draft had we not drafted him."

And if your favorite player isn't drafted, don't worry -- Division III's most prominent player currently in the NFL, John Carroll's London Fletcher, wasn't drafted either. Scroll down for more Division III football players signing free agent deals.

Recent draftees:

Year	Player, school	Team	Round-overall
2008	Andy Studebaker, Wheaton (Ill.)	Eagles	6-203
2008	Pierre Garcon, Mount Union	Colts	6-205
2007	Michael Allan, Whitworth	Chiefs	7-231
2007	Derek Stanley, UW-Whitewater	Rams	7-249
2003	Ryan Hoag, Gustavus Adolphus	Raiders	7-262
2002	Tony Beckham, UW-Stout	Titans	4-115
2002	Michael Coleman, Widener	Falcons	7-217
2000	Tim Watson, Rowan	Seahawks	6-185
1999	Clint Kriewaldt, UW-Stevens Point	Lions	6-177
1996	Ethan Brooks, Williams	Falcons	7-229

D3football.com Defensive Player of the Year Jerrell Freeman signed a free-agent contract with the Tennessee Titans, while Offensive Player of the Year Justin Beaver was invited to the Green Bay Packers' rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.

The Mary Hardin-Baylor linebacker and UW-Whitewater running back are not the only undrafted Division III players who will get a shot with an NFL team in the upcoming weeks, as names keep filtering in on the day after two Division III players were drafted.

Freeman says the Titans plan to look at him as a coverage linebacker, safety and special teams player.

"They called me at the end of the draft and said they had been looking at me and wanted to know if I want to sign a deal with them," Freeman said. "It's been wild, but I am excited about having this opportunity."

Wesley defensive end Bryan Robinson signed a free agent deal with the Arizona Cardinals. "It's going to be like starting all over again, like freshman year in college," Robinson said. "I'm going to have to prove myself, but this time it's against bigger and better competition."

Bridgewater wide receiver Brandon Copeland signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Browns and leaves for their rookie minicamp on Thursday. Mississippi College wide receiver Jake Allen signed a free agent contract with the Packers. Ohio Northern's Lenny Trusnik joined his brother Jason in the NFL, signing a contract with the Browns. St. Olaf receiver Horace Gant signed a contract with the Washington Redskins.

While Beaver was invited to the Packers' minicamp, the team revoked its original tryout offer to A.J. Raebel. Raebel was picked up by the Minnesota Vikings. Oberlin wide receiver Chris Schubert was invited to the Browns' minicamp. Carroll wide receiver Tyler Vogds was invited to the Vikings minicamp as a long snapper. Christopher Newport defensive back Rob Rodriguez, who was a senior and D3football.com All-American in 2006, was invited to the Chiefs' minicamp.

And two players who started in Division III but ended in Division I got calls as well. Steven Hauschka, an All-Region kicker at Middlebury, played one season at N.C. State as a grad student and was signed by the Vikings, while UW-River Falls running back Owen Schmitt, who played three years at West Virginia, was drafted in the fifth round by the Seahawks.