National Football Foundation

Freeman Belser's commitment to football and the NFF Midlands (S.C.) Chapter runs deep. A chapter high school scholar-athlete in 1997, Belser stood out nationally for his prowess on and off the field, and the national organization selected him as one of the five NFF National High School Scholar-Athletes that year. The experience left an indelible impression on Belser, and when he returned to the region to enter the field of law, he embraced the opportunity to lead the chapter as its president.
 
"When your playing days are over, and you make the transition from football player to fan, it can sometimes be easy to forget that the game of football is about much more than what just happens on game day," said Belser. "My involvement with the Midlands Chapter of the National Football Foundation reminds me that football can be a tool to teach essential values and set the foundation for a successful future."
 
An all-state linebacker and tight end at Heathwood Hall Episcopal High School in Columbia, S.C., Belser attended Davidson College in North Carolina and played linebacker for the Wildcats. Belser started three years and helped the 2000 squad post the best season in school history with a 10-0 mark. He received the Carolina Panthers Foundation's postgraduate scholarship as a senior in 2000, and he also won the Susan Wyatt Fagg Award for exemplary attitude and action from Davidson.
 
After graduating from Davidson with a bachelor's degree in history in 2001, Belser began law school at the University of South Carolina. Upon graduation in 2004, he became the fourth generation of the Belser family to practice law in Columbia, S.C. He holds seven years of experience as an attorney at Belser & Belser, a firm started by his great-grandfather Irvin Belser in 1906.
 
Belser won the NFF Midlands (S.C.) Chapter Outstanding Scholar-Athlete Award in 1997, and he was named an NFF National High School Scholar-Athlete later that year. He has held the role as NFF Midlands Chapter President since 2005. Belser quickly jump-started the chapter's membership and scholar-athlete program. Today the NFF Midlands Chapter recognizes 25 high school scholar-athletes and has distributed over $10,000 in scholarships.
 
"Some people learn the essential values - teamwork, perseverance, and leadership skills - through other sports or interests. I enjoyed the gift of learning these values playing football," Belser said. "When our chapter recognizes the 25 outstanding scholar athlete football players in the Columbia area each year, I have the privilege of meeting the young men who have excelled on the field, in the classroom, and in the community, and I am able to see that the game of football continues to teach young men the essential values that it taught me."
 
In addition to his NFF duties, Belser is also a board member of the Columbia Museum of Art and the Columbia Kiwanis Club. A graduate of the Leadership Columbia Class of 2007, he is also a member of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce. He and his wife, Maryanne, have two sons.