Kentucky’s J.J. Weaver Named to Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Watch List
Kentucky senior outside linebacker J.J. Weaver was announced today as one of the 52 nominees for the eighth annual Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year award.
The award, presented by Albertsons and Tom Thumb, is the first college football honor to focus primarily on a player’s leadership both on and off the field. Leadership is a term synonymous with Jason Witten, who, in addition to becoming one of the best tight ends in the sport’s history, served as one of football’s most prominent role models during his 16-year pro career. In addition to winning the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2012, Witten also received the Bart Starr Award, Pro Football Weekly’s Humanitarian of the Year Award, Home Depot NFL Neighborhood MVP and the Bob Lilly Award, among many others. All of those honors have recognized his work in the community, achievements on the field and dedication to his teammates and family.
Weaver, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, is a three-year team captain, joining Joshua Paschal and DeAndre Square as the only three-time team captains in school history. He graduated in December of 2023 with a degree in community leadership and development. He is currently working on a second degree in family science with a minor in communication.
On the field, he has totaled 10 tackles in four games and leads the team in sacks (2.0) and quarterback hurries (3). He also has two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. He currently ranks in the top 10 on UK’s career lists for sacks (tied for fifth – 18.5) and tackles for loss (seventh – 34.0).
Equally impressive is the work he’s doing off the field and in the community.
Weaver, who was born with polydactyly, a condition in which a person has more than five fingers or toes on one, or on each, hand or foot, has had to face many obstacles in his lifetime. With six fingers on his right hand, he was bullied and ridiculed in grade school for being different. But that obstacle was nothing compared to what he was about to face during his collegiate years.
From July 2020 to August 2021, Weaver lost his father to homicide, sustained a season-ending knee injury and then lost his beloved high school football coach to cancer.
Grief and anger started taking over his life and it became noticeable to those who knew him best. After being confronted by then-head athletic trainer Gabe Amponsah and a timely heart-to-heart talk with head coach Mark Stoops, who could relate after losing his father to a heart attack in college, Weaver agreed that counseling would help. And boy, did it ever. Inspired by the help he received, Weaver has become an outspoken advocate for mental health and counseling. In the fall of 2023, with help from the Kentucky Center for Grieving Children and Families, he launched an 8-week peer-led grief counseling group on UK’s campus, the first of its kind at UK called “The Perfect Fit Support Group.”
With Weaver’s help, “The Perfect Fit Support Group” received a $40,000 grant by Women in Philanthropy and is now available to all students on UK’s campus.
This spring, Weaver attended the “Supporting Children and Teens Through Loss” event at the Kentucky Center for Grieving Children and Families, where he spoke to the group about going through grief and participated in a drum circle with the children. In June, he attended the 2024 Annual Symposium on Children’s Grief in Denver, Colorado hosted by the National Alliance for Children’s Grief. He shared his story and the work he’s doing on UK’s campus.
He’s also done many other community service events, including hosting free football camps and two bike drives.
Weaver, who was a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year award last season, was recently named to the prestigious Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and is a semifinalist for the coveted Wuerffel Trophy for his work in the community.
Twenty semifinalists for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year award will be announced on Oct. 22. Three finalists will be named Monday, December 16. The winner will be announced at the award ceremony at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on February 12, 2025.
Last year, Mike Hollins of Virginia won the seventh annual award. The first six Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year awards were presented to Shaquem Griffin of UCF in 2017, D’Cota Dixon of Wisconsin in 2018, Trey Smith of Tennessee in 2019, Sam Ehlinger of Texas in 2020, Joshua Paschal of Kentucky in 2021 and Deslin Alexandre of Pittsburgh in 2022.
The winner of the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year will also receive a $10,000 contribution in his name to his school’s athletic scholarship fund. The contribution will be made by Jason Witten’s SCORE Foundation, the official charity of Jason and his wife Michelle. The SCORE Foundation, founded in 2007, has positively impacted tens of thousands of children and families in Texas and Tennessee over the last 16 years. The foundation operates its nationally recognized SCOREkeepers program, which places trained male mentors on staff to work with children at family violence shelters, at nine shelters in the two states.
