CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) — For the past month the North Carolina football team knew that one of their teammates was about to pass away. Tylee Craft died nine days ago, losing his battle to lung cancer. He passed away while his teammates were playing a game.
“I think it was best for everybody involved that he passed during the game so the kids didn’t know it,” said North Carolina head coach Mack Brown.
Craft lost his life while the Tar Heels were in the midst of losing their fourth straight game, a 41-34 home setback to Georgia Tech. Moments after the loss, Tar Heel players were informed of Craft’s death.
“These young people have enough pressure anyway, then you add losing four football games on top of it and you add the negativity and noise on top of that with losing a teammate, they’ve got a load right now,” said Brown.
Win or lose, for more than three and a half decades Brown has always taught life lessons to his players. Through the good times and the bad times facing adversity is a part of life.
“This team will come out of this season with more life lessons than probably any team I’ve had,” said Brown. “So will that help them more when they’re 40 than winning two more games? I don’t know.”
He knows, and so does his players. But still, college football can be brutal at times, especially in this day and age of social media. For far too many, the game still comes down to one thing.
“And at the same time we’ve got to win football games, so we can’t act like that’s not out there and real,” said Brown. “We’ve got to win.”
Winning is not easy, especially for a football team battling injuries and the loss of a loved one. It’s at times like this that it’s best to remember.
“The football part’s a game,” Brown said. “Go play it and enjoy playing it and have fun.”