01/15/25 05:33:00
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01/15 17:31 CST Jack Hoffman, young cancer patient who captured hearts of
Nebraska and nation with 2013 TD run, dies
Jack Hoffman, young cancer patient who captured hearts of Nebraska and nation
with 2013 TD run, dies
By ERIC OLSON
AP College Football Writer
Jack Hoffman, the cancer patient who captured the hearts of Nebraska football
fans and inspired the nation as a 7-year-old when he ran for a touchdown during
the Cornhuskers' 2013 spring game, has died at the age of 19.
Kylie Dockter, executive director of the Team Jack Foundation, said Hoffman
died of brain cancer early Wednesday at his home in Atkinson, Nebraska. Medical
tests in October confirmed new and more aggressive tumors had developed.
Hoffman initially was diagnosed in 2011, and his parents, Andy and Bri Hoffman,
were the driving force behind the Team Jack Foundation, which supports
pediatric brain cancer research.
Andy Hoffman was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2020 and died at age 42 on
March 1, 2021.
Jack was a passionate Nebraska football fan, and shortly after his diagnosis he
struck up a friendship with Huskers running back and future NFL player Rex
Burkhead.
The nation was introduced to Jack at Nebraska's 2013 spring game, after the
coaching staff invited him to run a play in the fourth quarter. Wearing a
miniature Burkhead uniform, he took a handoff from Taylor Martinez and scooted
69 yards to the end zone.
Players on both sidelines poured onto the field, followed him across the goal
line and mobbed him, lifting him on their shoulders to the delight of the crowd
of 60,000. ESPN and national news networks showed video of Jack's TD run for
several days, and it received millions of views on YouTube.
Three weeks later Jack, his family and Burkhead visited President Barack Obama
for 15 minutes in the Oval Office. Obama presented Jack with a new football and
told him he was proud of him.
A few months later, Jack's touchdown run won ESPN's 2013 ESPY Award for "Best
Moment in Sports."
Jack went on to play on the line of the Atkinson High School football team. He
graduated in May and was a pre-law major at the University of Nebraska-Kearney.
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