UNC’s Tylee Craft died a Tar Heel, but his impact transcends rivalries

“Did you hear the news?”

N.C. State’s Brandon Cisse approached teammate DJ Jackson before their game against Syracuse last week. Cisse was sharing news about North Carolina wide receiver Tylee Craft, who died Saturday morning of Stage 4 large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, a rare type of lung cancer.

Jackson stepped into the bathroom briefly and allowed a few tears to fall. His friend, former high school teammate and college rival was gone at age 23.

Cisse, Jackson and Craft hail from Sumter, South Carolina — which has an estimated population of 43,400 people. It’s not small but certainly not big either, the type of town where everyone knows someone who knows someone — or at least it feels that way.

Standing in the bathroom, the defensive tackle took a deep breath and decided to play Saturday’s game in Craft’s honor.

“I was like, ‘I can’t take nothing for granted. He’d probably kill to be out here right now just to play one snap,’” Jackson said.

The redshirt sophomore recorded five tackles and assisted Travali Price on a sack.

“Overall, he was just a great person to be around,” Jackson said of Craft. “And, he was good at football. The sky was the limit.”

‘If he can do it, why can’t I?’

Sumter High School English teacher and athletic academic coach Mandy Blankenship remembers the way Craft would make friends with everyone and create relationships that lasted.

Before moving to Chapel Hill, Craft went back to hish high school and said goodbye to his teachers, the younger students, his teammates, the lunch monitors and the librarian.

Craft brought light to the world and loved people in their most genuine form, always looking out for others and making them smile. That didn’t change when it came to younger players, Blankenship said.

Craft was two years older than Jackson, so they didn’t interact a lot in high school and only played together in 2019, when Craft was a senior and Jackson a sophomore. Blankenship noted, however, Jackson’s mother was “a big fan of Tylee’s.”

“That tells me, in typical Tylee fashion, he paid attention to DJ,” Blankenship said. “He would do that. He would pour into those younger guys. … It was very purposeful.”

They developed a deeper friendship once both were in college and dealing with individual health challenges.

Craft received his cancer diagnosis in March 2022. The same year, Jackson missed his true freshman season at N.C. State because of a knee injury and sat out in 2023 with an achilles injury. They texted back and forth and responded to each other’s posts on social media. Jackson remembers the way Craft regularly checked on him.

“When I posted something about an injury or anything, he would swipe up,” Jackson said, referring to the action that allows users to respond on Instagram and Snapchat. “He would ask how I’m doing, how everything’s going. I would always let him know I had prayers for him. We talked back and forth, saying little slick stuff about each other’s teams, just joking with each other.”

That’s what he did, always trying to stay positive and provide levity.

Jackson learned a lot from their relationship, taking notes on how to be a better friend and teammate. He saw Craft live with unparalleled humility and dedication, often asking his mother if she could drop him off at Kenan Football Center after treatments. He wanted to participate in modified workouts and attend team meetings, Blankenship said.

No one knew if he’d play football again, but he worked like he would and finished his degree.

“What he went through was crazy,” Jackson said. “It wasn’t like me. I can always bounce back from an injury. I can always get better from that. With cancer, you just never know. … He kept on sprinting the whole time. He put up a great fight; inspired many people throughout the way.

“If he can do it, going through everything he’s going through, why can’t I? Nothing’s happened to me to stop me from doing good in school or being the best person I can be. Nothing is stopping me from doing that.”

‘Where he needed to be’

Doctors diagnosed Craft with lung cancer at age 20 after the Carolina staff took him to the hospital for additional tests after he complained of severe back pain.

Craft’s family was told at the time that he likely had weeks to live, but he underwent more than a dozen rounds of chemotherapy and radiation during the 31-month ordeal. He exceeded expectations.

“I’m a person of faith, and I really do believe that God put Tylee where he needed to be because of this,” Blankenship said, noting the connection Craft made with wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway. “He was right there in that Research Triangle; right there with those doctors that he needed. It all just fell into place with no question. He just didn’t consider anybody else after he really started talking to UNC (during the recruiting process).”

Craft was hospitalized after UNC’s game against Pitt, his condition deteriorated quickly and the Tar Heels visited him days before his death.

North Carolina honored Craft and his family last weekend between the first and second quarters during the program’s annual cancer awareness and health care appreciation game. Fellow receiver JJ Jones wore Craft’s jersey during the game in tribute to his friend and teammate, while the basketball team wore “Tylee Strong” warmup shirts for its intrasquad scrimmage.

At the time, Craft’s death had not been announced. UNC head coach Mack Brown said he knew, based on the way Craft’s mother hugged him, that he knew the news was not good. Brown was officially notified of his player’s death after the game.

“This young man fought so hard for his two and a half years. The doctors told us he outlived what he should have,” Brown said on Saturday. “And he did it with a spirit, and he did it with a smile on his face.”

‘Gamecocks forever’

N.C. State’s football team flew to California on Thursday, the program’s first meeting with new ACC foe Cal-Berkeley. The game starts at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and the Wolfpack is expected be back in Raleigh at 3 or 4 a.m. Sunday.

Jackson will travel to Sumter for Craft’s memorial service at 1 p.m. Sunday, It’s a three-hour drive from Carter-Finley Stadium.

“I think DJ just wants to come home and be home in the middle of it, the celebration for (Craft),” Blankenship said. “I think that’s gonna drive him to get up and make that trip.”

While Craft’s life ended at a young age, he’s going to be remembered for a long time.

Brown announced on Saturday the Carolina football nutrition station would bear Craft’s name. The signage is already up. The Town of Sumter celebrates Tylee Craft day on Sept. 13 and hopes to create some sort of scholarship in his honor. Those are just a few examples of his impact.

Jackson was reminded that football — and life itself — can be taken away at any time. He’s proud of his friend for how hard he fought and wants to emulate that. It’s the least he can do.

“It says a lot about their character. They’re both very resilient young men,” Blankenship said of Jackson and Craft’s relationship. “We have this saying at school. We’re the Sumter High School Gamecocks, so we are Gamecocks forever.”

The duo took a photo at Carter-Finley Stadium on Nov. 25 after the Wolfpack beat Carolina, 39-20, to end the regular season. Neither player saw the field, but they embodied what “Gamecocks forever” stands for: Unconditional love and people to whom you can always return.