For his service to his local communities, graduate student linebacker Jack Kiser has been named a finalist for the Freddie Solomon Community Spirit Award, which recognizes a collegiate football player who has made a significant impact on others’ lives through community service.
The award is named in honor of “Fabulous Freddie” Solomon, a Super Bowl champion with the San Francisco 49ers with a legacy of giving back.
Notre Dame has had one winner of the Freddie Solomon Community Spirit Award in its previous 11 year history, as Daelin Hayes won the award in 2020.
Kiser has already been named to the 2024 AFCA Allstate Good Works Team, a finalist for the 2024 William V. Campbell Trophy, and a semifinalist for the 2024 Wuerffel Trophy.
One of the most tenured players on Notre Dame’s roster and a team captain, Kiser is in his sixth season playing for the Irish and leads the linebacker room. A Butkus Award Watch List honoree, Kiser owns 228 career tackles, 12 tackles for loss, four sacks, four interceptions (two pick-sixes), 10 passes defended, five forced fumbles and a blocked kick. His 65 tackles in 2023 placed him third among Irish defenders and his 58 tackles in 2022 ranked him second on the team. This year, he currently ranks tied for first on the team with 43 tackles. Kiser was Notre Dame’s 2023 Special Teams Player of the Year.
Kiser has led and participated in several community-facing initiatives during his time at Notre Dame. He has twice served as the player committee chairman for the program’s Cleats For a Cause initiative, which uses custom footwear to raise awareness for local nonprofits, then auctioning off the shoes with the proceeds benefiting the organizations. In his role, Kiser chaired the player committee, which selected the charities that were featured in the initiative, communicated directly with the charities and made appearances, and worked with the designer of the shoes. Throughout the months leading up to the initiative this season, he organized players to volunteer at and support charities that will benefit from the initiative.
He served as the Fighting Irish Fight for Life football team lead for the past three years, from Fall 2020-Spring 2023, a program which pairs a local pediatric patient with Notre Dame Athletics teams to become a true teammate.
Additionally, Kiser worked with local low-income families to perform tax returns this past spring on a weekly basis leading up to Tax Day. He has also made an impact in his home community, as he visited his former youth football team to surprise local kids from his area, spend time with the team, and give them tickets to a Notre Dame Football game.
Kiser has also been involved in the Notre Dame chapter of Uplifting Athletes, supporting the local rare disease community and their families, and would also regularly visit patients and families at the Ronald McDonald House on home game Fridays with head football coach Marcus Freeman.
Owning two Notre Dame degrees, Kiser is a force in the classroom. He achieved a 3.82 undergraduate GPA, majoring in business analytics, and a 3.97 GPA to earn his master’s degree in accountancy. He earned selection to the 2024 National Football Foundation Honor Society, and in 2023 was awarded the Dean’s Graduate Business Award and the Tom Frecka Academic Achievement Award, recognizing the top GPA in the Master’s of Science in Accountancy program at Notre Dame.