Archie Amerson, the 1996 Walter Payton Award winner, set NAU's single-season record for rushing yards (2,079) and rushing touchdowns (25) during his award-winning season. Amerson also owns the FCS and NAU single-game record for rushing touchdowns thanks to his seven scores against Weber State on Oct. 5, 1996, and was inducted into the NAU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.
 
He was officially enshrined into the Big Sky Conference Hall of Fame in July of 2023, as he is the conference's only running back Walter Payton Award winner.

The San Diego, Calif., native was an All-America selection in 1996 and led the Lumberjacks to their first-ever NCAA Division I-AA Playoff berth during a season that saw the Lumberjacks lead the nation with an average of 523.7 yards of total offense and 43.0 points per contest.
 
In just two seasons with NAU, the running back became the program's all-time leading rusher with 3,196 career yards. He was just the third running back in NCAA Division I-AA history to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season (2,079), and just the second back in conference history to rush for 3,000 yards in two seasons.
 
Amerson went on to play in the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1997-2004, finishing with a total of 122 games for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and one game for the Toronto Argonauts. Amerson racked up a total of 6,298 receiving yards and caught 37 touchdown passes, while adding 1,654 rushing yards and eight ground scores over his eight seasons in the CFL.
 
Most recently, Amerson was selected for the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot.