“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.