University of North Carolina football player Tylee Craft died Saturday morning from lung cancer. He was 23.
Craft was diagnosed in 2022 and told at the time he had only weeks to live. He died hours before the Tar Heels played Georgia Tech on Saturday in Chapel Hill.
“This young man fought so hard for his two-and-a-half years. The doctors told us he outlived what he should’ve,” UNC football coach Mack Brown said. “And he did it with the spirit. He did it with a smile on his face. He didn’t miss a meeting. He didn’t miss practice. He coached these other young people. I mean, he’s just an incredible young person.”
Saturday’s game was already scheduled as UNC’s annual Cancer Awareness Game. Wide receiver J.J. Jones wore Craft’s No. 13 jersey with Craft’s name on the back.
Brown said he only learned of Craft’s death after the game — a 41-34 Georgia Tech win — but told reporters he hugged Craft’s mom after the first quarter and sensed something had happened.
“I usually hide my emotions the best I can, because I need to, because I have to be somebody else,” Brown said, commenting on the ceremony for Craft after the first quarter. “And that team and Tylee were bigger than my feelings so I had to go back and make sure that…I mean J.J. Jones was crying, there were kids crying when I walked back down there.”
Craft enrolled at UNC in 2020 and appeared in 11 games for the Tar Heels across two seasons as wide receiver and on special teams. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in March 2022 and immediately began undergoing treatment.
“The doctor said that if Tylee didn’t come into the hospital he would’ve passed away in less than a month,” his mother, September Craft, told ESPN in August. “He was basically dying and he didn’t know it.”
But Craft remained a part of the team and the university, graduating with his bachelor’s degree in exercise and sports science/sports administration in May.
“Tylee meant so much to so many and affected us in ways we’ll always be thankful for,” the university said in a statement. “He was 1-of-1 and, while he won’t be with us in body, he’ll be watching over us with his endearing smile and endless positivity.”
With News Wire Services
