close
close

UNC Football's Tylee Craft dies after a lengthy battle with cancer

Posted on by Vanessa
UNC Football's Tylee Craft dies after a lengthy battle with cancer

UNC Football's Tylee Craft dies after a lengthy battle with cancer

Tylee Craft, whose long battle with cancer galvanized and inspired his teammates on the Tar Heel football team, died Saturday. He was 23 years old.

“We told the players at training on Thursday that he was going into hospice. You all know what that means,” head coach Mack Brown said after UNC’s game against Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon. “So they all ran to see him. Hugged him, talked to him, laughed with him.”

Craft, originally from Sumter, S.C., came to Carolina as a four-star prospect wide receiver and enrolled at the school in January 2020. He played eleven games over the next two seasons.

Craft was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer in March 2022 and immediately began chemotherapy at UNC Lineberger Cancer Center. Over the course of Craft's fight, the football program paid him numerous honors, including helmet decals featuring his No. 13 jersey and naming the 2022 spring game in his honor. Craft received the 2022 Disney Spirit Award as “the most inspirational figure in college football.”

Throughout his treatment, Craft continued to be a constant presence at the UNC football facilities, attending every practice, meeting and game he could. He earned his bachelor's degree from UNC in spring 2024 and began working on a master's degree in the fall. Craft had previously told Chapelboro that his goal was to become a scout in the NFL.

“Although he won’t be with us physically,” the show’s statement reads, “he will watch over us with his endearing smile and endless positivity.”

“It’s a wonderful lesson for all of us,” Brown said. “Because he is what he is, what he stood for at 23 years old. He’s tough… I never heard him complain once.”

Featured image via UNC Football on Instagram

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees and you can support our local journalism efforts directly here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us provide you with free local news and community information by signing up for our newsletter.

Related stories

‹

New report ranks UNC Hospitals as second best hospital in North Carolina

UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill once again takes a top spot in the latest U.S. News & World Report hospital rankings.

UNC is named a “New Ivy” institution in new Forbes list

Forbes named UNC one of its 10 “New Ivies,” a group of schools that approach the quality and prestige of an Ivy League institution while producing “smart, motivated graduates sought after by employers of all kinds.” says a press release. In compiling the list, Forbes analyzed 2022 admissions data from more than 1,700 schools, then (…)

UNC rises to No. 4 on Princeton Review's list of best public universities

UNC once again occupies a top spot in the latest university rankings from The Princeton Review and US World & News Report.

UNC and Durham Tech Leaders Discuss Measuring College Success

For many years, publications have rated and rated higher education institutions with the aim of better informing people about the value of their education. But after several schools declined to participate in the latest round of US News & World Report law school rankings, more people began to question their (…).

UNC was named the top university among public universities for the 18th consecutive year

In the latest edition of U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges list, UNC was once again ranked as the top college among all public institutions in the country. This is the 18th consecutive year that Carolina has topped the list. In addition, UNC tied with the University of Florida for fifth place among the best public schools in (…)

UNC's reputation remains stable in national and global university rankings

In this year's edition of US News & World's Report's “America's Best Colleges” list, UNC ranks 28th, unchanged from last year.

New world ranking places UNC among the top 30 universities

UNC ranked among the top in a recent ranking of universities around the world. In the 2021 Academic Ranking of World Universities, published each year by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, the Chapel Hill institution is ranked 29th globally and 20th nationally. Additionally, UNC's list ranks seventh among public universities in the (…)

U.S. News & World Report ranks UNC fifth among public universities

U.S. News & World Report ranked UNC-Chapel Hill fifth in its list of best public schools among national universities. This is the 20th anniversary of UNC being ranked among the top universities in the country. The US News & World Report ranking also placed UNC on the list of best value schools among public national (…)

UNC reaches No. 30 in the 2020 global academic rankings

UNC was recently listed as one of the best universities in the world in a global ranking. According to the 2020 Academic Ranking of World Universities prepared by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ranked 30th among the top 1,000 universities. UNC also ranked 20th in the United States among the world (…)

UNC Football's Tylee Craft dies after a lengthy battle with cancer

UNC Football's Tylee Craft dies after a lengthy battle with cancer

Tylee Craft, whose long battle with cancer galvanized and inspired his teammates on the Tar Heel football team, died Saturday. He was 23 years old. With love and fond memories, we announce that Tylee Craft has begun his journey on the other side. Tylee meant so much to so many and touched us (…)

›

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *