J.J. Weaver Nominee for Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award
Kentucky senior outside linebacker J.J. Weaver has been named a nominee for the 2024 Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award, it was announced today. He was also a nominee for the award in 2021.
The Courage Award was first presented by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) in 2002. A select group of writers from the FWAA vote on the winner each year. The requirements for nomination include displaying courage on or off the field, including overcoming an injury or physical handicap, preventing a disaster or living through hardship. The award winner will be included in festivities during Capital One Orange Bowl week and receive his trophy at an on-field presentation.
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. It is now known as “LINC” or “Loss Inspiring New Connections.”
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.
“I was like, man, I want to start something different,” Weaver said during a 2023 CBS video feature. “At first, I wanted to just start in the football facility to see. We’re men, but we still have feelings at the end of the day. We’re still grieving. We’re still going through things, and it’s OK to talk to somebody about what you’re going through.”
Watch the CBS video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y8ji9bICjk
He’s also done many other community service events, including hosting free football camps and two bike drives.
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.
In eight games, he has totaled 24 tackles and leads the team in sacks (5.0) and quarterback hurries (4). He also has 5.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
He currently ranks third at UK in career tackles for loss (37.5) and is fourth in sacks all-time (21.5).
Weaver is also on the watch lists for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year (semifinalist) and the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy (semifinalist). Additionally, he was selected to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and recently received the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2024 Ron Butler Character in Adversity Award.
