Earning a football scholarship with Mississippi State took a lot of work in the classroom, Warren Central senior Chris Stamps told Port City Kiwanis last week.

“You have to have your priorities straight. You can’t play football if you don’t have the grades. You have to stay disciplined,” Stamps said while speaking to the civic group on Thursday morning.

On Feb. 4, Stamps accepted a scholarship offer to play with the Bulldogs after a senior season that included three interceptions and seven pass break-ups.

“I saw the hard work pay off,” Stamps said.

Under NCAA guidelines, a student must meet certain grade point average requirements coupled with either an ACT or SAT Score. The requirements are on a sliding scale depending on GPA and test scores. Athletes who don’t have the combined score to get into a Division I school often end up going to a junior college to boost their GPA before transferring to a four-year program.

“Chris is an A and B student and always has been thanks to the guidance of his mother,” his father Charles Stamps said during the Kiwanis meeting.

Keeping the football star in line wasn’t difficult, his mother, Lelia Stamps said.

“A lot of Chris’ discipline comes from the fact that he is a homebody most of the time,” she said.

Recruitment of the Warren Central defensive star began about a year before he signed to play for the Bulldogs.

“I had coaches come inside my home each and every week trying to build a relationship with me and my family,” Chris Stamps said.

Seven schools showed interest in Stamps before Mississippi State won the recruiting battle.

“I had several coaches recruit me hard. And the hardest one who recruited me was from Washington State. I barely even know where Washington is on the map,” Stamps joked.

The Stamps family has had a long tradition of athletics stardom. Perhaps the most famous is Chris’ uncle Sylvester Stamps, who played six seasons in the NFL with Atlanta and Tampa Bay from 1984-89.

Chris’ older brother, Otis Stamps, played for Louisiana-Monroe.

“Athletics just runs in the family. Chris and Otis have just taken it to another level,” Charles Stamps said.