Can it have really been 25 years since Jason Elam last boomed kicks for the University of Hawaii?

More than a quarter-century, too, since the quiet, unfailingly polite kid from Snellville, Ga., found his way to Manoa and became a record-setting weapon.

“I know, it is hard to believe,” said his former head coach, Bob Wagner, after seeing photos of Elam, now with a salt and pepper goatee, accepting an NCAA Silver Anniversary Award on Wednesday in Indianapolis. “But what a special honor.”

Elam, among the Rainbow Warriors’ most celebrated football players, was nominated by UH assistant media relations director Neal Iwamoto and saluted as one of six distinguished former athletes nationally on the 25th anniversary of the end of their intercollegiate careers.

In accepting the honor, Elam credited his time and lessons learned here for the path his life has taken, both on the football field and away from it. “Cherish the unity and diversity you will encounter during your collegiate experience,” Elam said in an NCAA-distributed statement. “The deep bond was formed through training together, hurting together (and) winning together. Having the opportunity to be a collegiate athlete is one of the greatest gifts I have experienced.”

Elam’s UH career catapulted him into being a third-round selection of the Denver Broncos in the 1993 NFL Draft and a 17-year pro career in which he earned two Super Bowl rings, three Pro Bowl appearances and, for 15 years, shared a piece of the record for the longest NFL field goal (63 yards). Elam was selected for the Broncos’ Ring of Fame.

Since then Elam has gone on to become a pilot, an author and a leader of religious and humanitarian efforts in several countries. He is currently living in North Carolina where he is pursuing a PhD in religious studies.

UH began recruiting him on the word of a former player of then-assistant coach Paul Johnson, who had glimpsed Elam in a kicking camp. The star of the camp was Chris Gardocki, who went on to become a second-team All-America place-kicker at Clemson and 16-year NFL punter.

“But this guy who Paul knew told us Jason was right there with him, a diamond in the rough, so we took his word for it,” Wagner said.

“The first time we saw Jason kick in practice at (Aloha Stadium) we knew he was the real deal,” Wagner said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, boy, can we just start the season right now, right here?’ You knew he was going to make a big difference from the start.”

And Elam did, of course.

He kicked the game-winning field goal in the 1988 season-opener, a 27-24 victory over ninth-ranked Iowa. His last kicks as a Rainbow Warrior included 45- and 37-yard field goals in UH’s 27-17 Holiday Bowl victory of 1992 over Illinois.

He made good on a remarkable 158 of 161 extra-point attempts and 79 of 100 field-goal tries, including 20 in a row at one point. His 56-yarder has yet to be topped at UH.

Elam was also an accomplished punter and his average per attempt (43.51 yards) stood as the school record until Rigoberto Sanchez topped it (44.84) in 2016.

By the time Elam departed, he owned a dozen UH and Western Athletic Conference records and made the Coaches’ All-America team.

But it was a setback, a season-ending groin injury in 1990, that gave him occasion to take a longer look at his life and purpose that he has carried with him to this day.

Elam told the NCAA, “(My faith asks that I) display the fruit of love, peace, kindness and compassion for others. The greatest way to demonstrate this is to be active in providing healing and hope.”