VERMONT SPORTS HALL OF FAME

Courtesy: UNH Athletic Communications

Barre/Orange

Football (Multi-sport Athlete)

Inducted 2024

David Ball was a three-sport standout at Spaulding High in Barre and a two-sport star at the University of New Hampshire where on the gridiron, he was a three-time all-American wide receiver setting several national records.

While at Spaulding, Ball was an All-State selection in both football and basketball and was an individual champion in track and field. He scored over 1,000 career points in basketball, helped lead the Crimson Tide to the 2002 Division I state title, and was a captain of the 2002 Vermont Shrine football team.  He won the Division I high jump, long jump and triple jump titles as a senior and he set the state mark in the high jump.  He won seven state track events over three years.

After a post-grad year at Worcester Academy where he excelled in all three sports, he went on to UNH where he was a four-year starter at wide receiver, setting most of the program and Atlantic-10 receiving records, while also being in the top five in several national categories.

He finished his collegiate career with a NCAA FCS (D-1 AA) national record as the most prolific scorer with 58 touchdown receptions – beating the old mark set by future NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice (50 TDs), a mark held until 2016.  Ball also ended with 4,655 receiving yards – second most all-time at the time, 38 behind Rice – with 304 catches. He also had the most games with at least 100 receiving yards. 

Ball had several tryout stints in the NFL, with the Bears, Jets and Eagles, and played in the Canadian Football League for Montreal, Hamilton and Winnipeg.. He also played professionally in arena football. 

While in college, the Vermont Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association twice voted Ball the state’s Male Athlete of the Year, in 2005-06 and in 2006-07. He was inducted into the UNH Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014 and his No. 3 jersey is one of three football numbers retired by the Wildcats. He also was inducted into the VPA Hall of Fame in 2017.