Bridgewater, NJ – Northeast Conference (NEC) football had two players selected to the 2023 Associated Press FCS All-America football team.

Receiving third team All-America recognition were Saint Francis U offensive lineman Seth Osborne (Williamsburg, VA/Lafayette) and LIU defensive end Eric O'Neill (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville). 

In his final collegiate season, Osborne helped guide a Saint Francis U offense that finished atop the NEC with 360.1 total yards and 27.2 total points per game. During conference play this season, the Red Flash averaged 203.1 rushing yards per game – 24.2 more yards per contest than any other program.
  
With his selection, Osborne becomes the third player in program history represented on an AP All-American team after Lorenzo Jerome was a First Team selection and Kameron Lewis was Second Team in 2016 honoree. 

Osborne, a 6-foot-4 redshirt senior, is coming off a 2023 campaign that saw him earn All-NEC First Team honors for the second time in as many seasons. In total, the Williamsburg, VA native has earned three all-conference nods, as he was named to the second team in 2021.

O'Neill, a 6-foot-3 redshirt sophomore from Staten Island, earned a major award from the NEC for the second striaght season in 2023 after he was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year. That recogntion comes one year after he became LIU's first-ever major award winner by earning NEC Defensive Rookie of the Year disctinction.

He was a finalist for the Stats Perform Buck Buchanan Award as the FCS defensive player of the year. It marked the second straight season that he was on a ballot for a national award, as he finalist for the Stats Perform Jerry Rice Award.

O'Neill also garnered All-NEC First Team honors for the second time in as many years.

In 2023, O'Neill was second in the circuit in sacks (5.5 per game) and was first in the NEC in tackles-for-loss (23.5) over the course of the regular season. In addition, his 2.14 tackles-for-loss per contest are good for second overall on the FCS leaderboard. He was also credited with 80 tackles, one forced fumble, seven quarterback hurries, three pass breakups and one interception. 

With the addition of Osborne and O'Neill, the NEC now has 32 AP All-Americans since 1997.