WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Eric Watt has been inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame as a member of its region four class of 2026.

Watt, who graduated from Trine University in 2011, was a Thunder football standout quarterback who led the team through a three-year run of dominance in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA). The Thunder won three straight MIAA Championships beginning in 2008 along with the accompanying trips to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, where they reached the Sweet 16 twice.

Following his senior season, Watt received national recognition by taking home the Gagliardi Trophy, given to the most outstanding football player in NCAA Division III and recognizes excellence in athletics, academics and community service. It is often considered the Division III equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. During that season he led the nation in passing efficiency, earned All-American status.

Other individual honors earned by Watt included back-to-back MIAA Offensive MVP honors, three All-MIAA recognitions and seven MIAA Offensive Player of the Week awards. He was named the 2011 winner of Trine University's Robert L. Greim Award, given to the senior male student-athlete who best embodies the values of leadership, character, citizenship, scholarship and athletic accomplishment.

At the conclusion of his career, Watt held 12 school records. He still holds seven of those records. He holds 12 records for the school during its NCAA Division III tenure.  He was inducted into the Trine University Athletic Hall of Fame as an individual in 2016.

Before Trine, Watt played for South Newton High School where he passed for 7,725 yards and 82 touchdowns. He still holds almost all of South Newton's single-game, season and career passing records and is a member of their athletic hall of fame.

Watt is married with four children. He is the co-owner of Watt Trucking, Inc.