Tar Heels WR Craft, 23, dies after cancer fight

• Heather Dinich, ESPN

  • Senior WriterOct 12, 2024, 06:06 PM ET Close College football reporter
  • Signed up with ESPN.com in 2007
  • Graduate of Indiana University

North Carolina pass receiver Tylee Craft passed away Saturday early morning after a prolonged fight with cancer, the school announced.Craft, 23, of Sumter, South Carolina, was identified with Stage 4 lung cancer on March 14, 2022. The UNC neighborhood had actually rallied behind him with the #TyleeStrong hashtag given that his medical diagnosis. He had undergone many treatments, however the cancer spread out through his body and brain. Still, he had actually registered in graduate courses towards a master’s degree in applied expert research studies and finished in May with a bachelor’s degree in workout and sports science/sports administration.Editor’s Picks

UNC had honored Craft throughout Saturday’s football game versus Georgia Tech. It also occurred to be the team’s yearly Cancer Awareness Game. Pals and relative wearing t-shirts bearing Craft’s name and number were recognized throughout an on-field ceremony.Wide receiver J.J. Jones used Craft’s jersey with his No. 13 and last name during the game. In addition, the UNC males’s basketball team wore t-shirts bearing Craft’s name and number for its intrasquad scrimmage at the Smith Center following the football game, and had a pre-scrimmage minute of silence in Craft’s honor.”This young man battled so hard for

his 2 and a half years,” UNC football coach Mack Brown said.” The medical professionals told us he outlasted what he ought to’ve. And he did it with the spirit, he did it with a smile on his face, he didn’t miss a conference, he didn’t miss practice, he coached these other amazing young people.”Brown told press reporters he didn’t find out of Craft’s death up until after the game but noticed something had occurred after sharing an emotional hug with Craft’s mom at the end of the first quarter.”I believe the family feels the love and they’ll continue to feel the love,

“Brown stated.” What we’ve got to do is be strong, and pray for strength for us as leaders, to help these guys on the field and off the field. … So more than ever before I have actually got to step up and be more powerful for them and ensure that I can assist them handle the things and progress in their lives.”< img height=" 320 "width=" 570" src= "https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/41758674/"

/ > Tylee Craft, visualized here in 2022 with UNC coach Mack Brown, graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in exercise and sports science/sports administration. Courtesy UNC Sports

Craft had actually been fighting with disabling back pain, so UNC’s athletic training personnel took him to the hospital in 2022 for more screening to figure out the reason for it. That’s when he was identified with Phase 4 big cell neuroendocrine cancer. He instantly began an aggressive treatment of chemotherapy and immunotherapy.According to UNC, when Craft was

detected, his family stated doctors told them he was just weeks far from dying.In 2022, Craft was acknowledged with the Disney Spirit

Award, presented annually to college football’s most inspirational person or team. He was also one of 5 college professional athletes named to the Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion Group that year.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.