Kentucky’s J.J. Weaver on Allstate Wuerffel Trophy Watch List
Kentucky senior outside linebacker J.J. Weaver has been named one of 111 nominees for the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy, it was announced today by the Wuerffel Foundation.
College Football’s Premier Award for Community Service and one of the most meaningful awards in collegiate sports, The Allstate Wuerffel Trophy is named after Danny Wuerffel, the 1996 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from the University of Florida who parlayed his success on the football field into a lifetime of service. The Allstate Wuerffel Trophy embodies Wuerffel’s commitment to being a humanitarian, while honoring student-athletes who are inspired to serve others and make positive impacts on society. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Trophy’s founding, and the Foundation will recognize the first nineteen recipients throughout the fall season.
Kentucky’s Courtney Love won the coveted trophy in 2017.
Weaver, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, is set to once again be a veteran leader for the Wildcats’ defense this season. Last year, the two-year team captain totaled 45 tackles and ranked second on the team in TFLs with 8.5 and second in sacks with 7.0.
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 now will be available to all students on UK’s campus beginning in the fall of 2024.
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, providing more than 200 bicycles to children in Lexington and his hometown of Louisville.
Because of his resilience and work in the community, Weaver recently earned the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2024 Ron Butler Character in Adversity Award.
Weaver graduated in December 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.
Announced recently, the Wuerffel Foundation partnered with Allstate to unify college football’s highest community service honors. Eleven of the Watch List nominees will be named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and will be Allstate Wuerffel Trophy semifinalists.
The 2024 Allstate Wuerffel Trophy finalists and recipient will be selected by an illustrious national voting committee, including a fan vote component, and announced on ESPN’s Home Depot College Football Awards Show on December 12th. The Allstate Wuerffel Trophy Presentation Gala will take place February 1, 2025, at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
Weaver is also on the watch list for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.
