Jack Hoffman, a passionate supporter of the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, has passed away at the age of 19 after a long fight with brain cancer.
He became widely loved when he ran for a touchdown during the team’s 2013 spring game.
Highlights
- Jack’s father, Andy Hoffman, was also diagnosed with brain cancer in 2020 and passed away from the disease in 2021.
- When Andy’s health worsened, Jack stepped up to help care for his father after school.
- Andy reached out to Nebraska, hoping his son could meet his favorite player, running back Rex Burkhead.
According to the executive director of the Team Jack Foundation, Jack died on 15 January at his home in Atkinson, Nebraska.
In October 2024, doctors discovered that his cancer had worsened with new, more aggressive tumors.
Jack was first diagnosed with brain cancer in 2011, which led to the founding of the Team Jack Foundation, dedicated to funding research for pediatric brain cancer.
Andy Hoffman’s Cancer Worsened By Contracting Covid-19 In 2021
Andy, a huge Nebraska football fan who used to dress his son Jack in a Cornhuskers onesie as a baby, had the joy of watching Jack play his freshman season at Atkinson West Holt High School.
Jack played as a lineman on the Atkinson High School football team like his dad in high school.
Just saw this photo of Andy (Hoffman) with Sam Foltz, now Jack joins them and they will be able to watch the Cornhuskers together this fall. Godspeed #TeamJack #SF27 pic.twitter.com/FLis7xezH1
— CFB Home (@CFBHome) January 16, 2025
Tragically, Jack’s father, Andy Hoffman, was also diagnosed with brain cancer in 2020 and passed away from the disease in 2021 at the age of 42.
His diagnosis in July 2020 was hard to comprehend: how could two family members have brain cancer?
Andy, a marathon runner and hard worker, was diagnosed with Glioblastoma multiforme, a rare and aggressive form of cancer with a survival rate of just about one year.
In a Facebook post last week, Jack’s mother, Bri, expressed her disbelief.
Andy fought hard, sought multiple medical opinions, and pushed through two strokes to return home from the Mayo Clinic.
His focus was clear: he wanted to raise as much money as possible for Team Jack and spend precious time with Bri, Jack, and his daughters, Ava and Reese.
As Andy’s health worsened, Jack stepped up to help care for his father after school.
In early February 2021, Andy contracted COVID-19. Bri shared on Facebook that he received a monoclonal antibody infusion and recovered quickly, showing no symptoms after about five days.
However, an MRI taken after his recovery revealed that the cancer had spread, and Andy’s condition deteriorated rapidly after that.
Andy And Bri Hoffman Did Everything To Make Jack Capture The Nation’s Hearts With A Viral Touchdown
The Hoffman family’s battle with cancer started when Jack, 5-year-old, was diagnosed with a cancerous glioma.
Doctors initially told them that most of his tumor, which was about the size of a golf ball, couldn’t be removed.
However, after doing a lot of research, Andy found a doctor in Boston who successfully removed more than 90% of it.
Before Jack’s surgery, Andy reached out to Nebraska, hoping his son could meet his favorite player, running back Rex Burkhead.
What a devastating loss for the state of Nebraska and the Hoffman family. Fuck cancer, man. RIP Jack. pic.twitter.com/I0irbIwlqC
— braska_dadbod (@DavidMacrander) January 15, 2025
Andy didn’t expect a response, but Burkhead, who was then with the New England Patriots, eagerly agreed to meet them.
He treated them to lunch, gave them a tour of Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, and even called Jack before the surgery to offer support.
A year and a half later, Nebraska’s coaches also decided to include Jack in the 2013 spring game.
The nervous little boy, wearing a helmet too big for him, ran a 69-yard touchdown in front of 60,000 fans while his dad cheered from the sidelines. No one could have predicted how viral that moment would become.
The video of Jack’s run on YouTube gained nearly a million views, and Jack later won an ESPY award and even visited President Barack Obama.
Additional Information
- The Team Jack Foundation, set up by his father, Andy, has raised over $ 14 million for pediatric brain cancer research.
- Rex Burkhead took Andy and Jack on a Memorial Stadium in Lincoln tour and called them before Jack’s surgery to offer support.
- When the Huskers were trailing Ohio State, Burkhead decided to try to fire up a few of his teammates by mentioning the boy he’d just met.