UNC player Tylee Craft dies at 23 of lung cancer; teammate scores touchdown wearing his jersey
Earlier this week, members of North Carolina’s football team visited teammate Tylee Craft, who was transferred to hospice care amid his battle with lung cancer.
Prior to their game Saturday, the Tar Heels paid tribute to him. During the game, Tar Heel receiver J.J. Jones scored a touchdown while wearing Craft’s jersey.
After its game against Georgia Tech, the team found out Craft had died earlier in the day at the age of 23.
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Head coach Mack Brown, left, of the North Carolina Tar Heels embraces September Craft, mother of North Carolina wide receiver Tylee Craft, during the first half of a game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Kenan Memorial Stadium Oct. 12, 2024, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (Lance King/Getty Images)
“We just heard that we lost Tylee Craft this morning,” an emotional Mack Brown said after the game, wearing a “Tylee Strong” shirt.
Brown said the team had learned Craft had “two days to two weeks.” So, on Thursday, players “all ran to see him, hugged him, talked to him and laughed with him.”
“We didn’t know if he was going to make it this morning before the game, and you have to figure out how you’re going to tell a group — what a difficult thing to tell a group about one of their best friends,” Brown added. “It’s a very, very difficult time for them. We told them to get with our mental health people, their friends, their parents.”
The North Carolina Tar Heels take the field before a game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Kenan Memorial Stadium Oct. 12, 2024, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (Lance King/Getty Images)
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Craft’s mother was at the pregame ceremony. Brown said she hugged him “and cried hard after the first quarter, so I figured it wasn’t good.”
“Tylee meant so much to so many and affected us in ways we’ll always be thankful for. He was one of one, and, while he won’t be with us in body, he’ll be watching over us with his endearing smile and endless positivity,” UNC said in a statement.
Brown announced the school’s nutrition center would be named after Craft, and officials had told Craft before he died. He also said receivers want to rotate wearing Craft’s jersey for the rest of the season, beginning with Jones on Saturday.
North Carolina wide receiver Tylee Craft (13) walks the sideline during the second half of a game against Minnesota Sept. 16, 2023, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Reinhold Matay)
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Craft played in a combined 11 games for UNC in the 2020 and 2021 seasons and was diagnosed in March 2022.
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