Tylee Craft, a wide receiver on the UNC football team, announced on Twitter Wednesday he had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer earlier this month. Craft said in the announcement he has already started chemotherapy.

Craft had been struggling with debilitating back pain recently, which led him to visit a doctor.

“It got to the point where we wanted to find out if something else was going on,” Craft said in his announcement.

The check-up revealed Craft’s cancer. The rising junior from Sumter, S.C., will be stepping away from the field while he fights the disease, but said he isn’t giving up on football just yet.

“I plan on getting back on the field as soon as possible,” Craft said. “My family and I are in good spirits and we’re getting all the support we could ever ask for from the football program, the athletics department, and the medical professionals here at UNC.”

“Tylee is a great young man, who is facing a tough situation, but we’re so proud of the way he’s handling it,” UNC head coach Mack Brown said on Twitter. “Tar Heel Nation, let’s rally around Tylee and his family and lift them up with thoughts and prayers as they begin the road to recovery.”

Craft appeared in four games for the Tar Heels during the 2021 season, both as a wide receiver and on special teams.

This won’t be the first time the program has rallied around a member fighting a long-term illness. Mitch Mason, the UNC football team chaplain, has been battling a rare neurological disease since being diagnosed in the summer of 2020.

 

Featured image via 247 Sports

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

Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: Belichickian Ways
Whether Bill Belichick is worth $10 million remains to be seen, but he's clearly different from aloof Larry Fedora and salesman Mack Brown.
'Like a Cross-Country Team': UNC Football Praises Improved Conditioning, Nutrition Programs
Gio Lopez has only been a Tar Heel for a few months. But already, the transfer quarterback from South Alabama is feeling the effects of being in head coach Bill Belichick’s program. “I’m the best conditioned I’ve ever been in my life,” Lopez said at the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte Thursday afternoon. “Back at South, […]
'Everybody's Got Something to Prove': Read Highlights from UNC's Day at the ACC Kickoff
Representatives from the UNC football program spoke at the 2025 ACC Kickoff in Charlotte Thursday afternoon. Head coach Bill Belichick was joined at the podium by receiver Jordan Shipp and defensive backs Will Hardy and Thad Dixon. Read highlights from each of the speakers below: Will Hardy On how Belichick has helped the players grow […]
ESPN to Broadcast Live Pregame Show from Kenan Stadium Ahead of UNC vs. TCU Game
ESPN will broadcast a special one-hour edition of its “College Football Countdown” show at Kenan Stadium before UNC hosts TCU the night of September 1. The broadcast will air live at 7 p.m. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. 📍Kenan Stadium 🗓️Labor Day College Football Countdown is coming to Chapel Hill Week 1! 🔗: https://t.co/EGOJ0Iffbe […]
Chansky's Notebook: Media Mystery
The ACC Kickoff is buzzing with questions as to the whereabouts of UNC head coach Bill Belichick and his entourage.
All UNC Football Tickets Sold Out for 2025 Season
Bill Belichick’s Tar Heels are the hottest ticket in town. With less than two months to go until kickoff, the university announced all season ticket packages and individual tickets are sold out for the entire 2025 season. We are officially SOLD OUT! 🔗: https://t.co/zPiPTVPNnd pic.twitter.com/wj2feiTSNL — Carolina Football (@UNCFootball) July 23, 2025 This fall, Kenan […]
Chansky's Notebook: Turf Talk
No matter how the grass grows on the new Kenan Stadium carpet, it is up to the team that takes the field to get butts in seats.
Report: Hulu to Air Docuseries Featuring Bill Belichick, UNC Football
According to a report from Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports, the Hulu streaming service will air a docuseries featuring UNC head football coach Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels. Glasspiegel says early-stage production on the series has already begun, and that the two sides are finalizing an agreement. A spokesman for the football program […]
3 Reasons to Be Confident (and Cautious) for UNC Football in 2025
The 2025 UNC football season is set to be one of the most consequential in program history. The Tar Heels have made a significant investment on the gridiron, bringing in Super Bowl champion head coach Bill Belichick to lead the team into a future dominated by NIL, revenue sharing and the transfer portal. With kickoff […]
Bill Belichick at UNC: The Full Timeline
Bill Belichick’s tenure as the UNC head football coach has been full of twists and turns since his shocking hiring to lead the program in Dec. 2024. Since arriving in Chapel Hill, the six-time Super Bowl winning head coach has attracted national attention — for both Carolina’s on-field prospects and headlines around his book tour […]
›