Wheaton, Ill. – Wheaton College senior Giovanni Weeks has been named to the Division III All-American Team by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). There have been 21 AFCA Division III All-American selections from Wheaton through the years, tied for fourth among Division III programs. The Thunder football program has had at least one player selected to the AFCA Division III All-America Football Team for nine-consecutive seasons, currently the longest streak in Division III.

Weeks ran for a school record 1,687 yards this season, a mark that is currently the highest total in Division III this year. He broke his own school single-season records with 25 total touchdowns and 152 points. The senior ran for a career-high 256 yards in Wheaton's NCAA First Round win against Mount St. Joseph, the highest single-game rushing total in the playoffs this year and the 11th-highest single-game total in D3 this season.

Weeks owns a school record with an average of 12.4 points per game in his career to rank 11th all-time in Division III history. His school record of 422 career points is 25th all-time in D3 history, and he holds the Wheaton school record with 70 career touchdowns. Weeks is Wheaton's career rushing yardage leader with 4,397 career rushing yards and his 5,540 career all-purpose yards is also a school record.

Weeks is a First Team selection by the AFCA, marking the ninth-consecutive year that a Wheaton player has been selected to the AFCA team, joining: Trevor Gabriele (20222); Dallas McRae (2021 & 2019); Eric Stevenson (LB) in 2018; Chase Greenlee (DE) in 2017, Peter Gibson (G), in 2016, Adam Dansdill (LB) in 2015 and Spencer Clark (C) in 2014. Wheaton's 21 selections to the AFCA Division III All-American Team since the awards began in 1996 is among the most  in the history of the award.  

The AFCA has selected an All-America team every year since 1945. The five teams now chosen for each AFCA division evolved from a single 11-player squad in 1945. From 1945 until 1967, only one team was chosen. From 1967 through 1971, two teams – University Division and College Division – were selected. In 1972, the College Division was split into College I and College II. In 1979, the University Division was split into two teams — Division I-A and Division I-AA. In 1996, the College I and College II teams were renamed Division II and Division III, respectively. The AFCA began selecting an NAIA-only team in 2006. Also in 2006, the Division I-A and Division I-AA teams were renamed Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), respectively. From 1965-81, a 22-player (11 offensive, 11 defensive) team was chosen. In 1982, a punter and placekicker were added to the team. In 1997, a return specialist was added, and the return specialist position was replaced by an all-purpose player in 2006. In 2016, the AFCA added a second team All-America.

Weeks' selection marks the 21st time that the AFCA has honored a Wheaton football player as an All-American he joins: linebacker Larry Wagner (1977); quarterback Scott Hall (1978); quarterback Keith Bishop (1983); offensive lineman Doug Johnston (1995); receiver Mark Loeffler (1996); offensive lineman James Hoxworth (2003); receiver Brad Musso (2004); Andrew Day (2005); defensive lineman Andy Studebaker (2006); defensive back Pete Ittersagen (2007 & 2008); offensive lineman Nick Biggee (2010); offensive lineman Spencer Clark (2014); linebacker Adam Dansdill (2015); offensive lineman Peter Gibson (2016); defensive lineman Chase Greenlee (2017); linebacker Eric Stevenson (2018); defensive lineman Dallas McRae (2019 & 2021); and offensive lineman Trevor Gabriele (2022) as Wheaton's
previous selections.

The AFCA's Division III All-America Selection Committee is made up of head coaches representing each conference from each of the AFCA's seven districts, one of whom serves as a district chairman, along with another head coach who serves as the chairman of the selection committee. The coaches in each district are responsible for ranking the top players in their respective districts prior to a conference call between the district chairmen and the committee chairman on which the team is chosen.

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MOST AFCA DIVISION III ALL-AMERICAN SELECTIONS ALL-TIME
1.) Mount Union - 34
2.) Mary-Hardin Baylor - 27
T3.) Linfield and UW-Whitewater - 24
T4.) WHEATON, Wittenberg, St. John's (Minn.), UW-La Crosse and Washington & Jefferson - 21
5.) North Central - 20
T6.) Augustana and Springfield -19
8.) Ithaca - 18
9.) Central (Iowa), Widener and Wesley - 17
10.) Montclair State - 16