J.J. Weaver Named Winner of Freddie Solomon Spirit Award
Kentucky graduate and outside linebacker J.J. Weaver has been named the winner of the 12th annual Freddie Solomon Community Spirit Award, announced by the Premier Players Sports Foundation on Tuesday. Named in honor of “Fabulous Freddie” Solomon, a University of Tampa standout and Super Bowl champion with the San Francisco 49ers, the award celebrates athletes who embody Solomon’s legacy of giving back.
After a stellar career at Tampa, Soloman spent 11 years in the NFL, playing three seasons with the Miami Dolphins before joining the San Francisco 49ers where he was a part of two Super Bowl championships. After his pro career, the Sumter, South Carolina native, returned to Hillsborough County to make a more lasting impact. Solomon devoted the next 12 years of his life to the youth of Tampa Bay, working with the sheriff’s department to teach kids life lessons through football. His efforts impacted more than two decades of youth, before his passing in 2012. His lessons are still carried on in the community.
Weaver was nominated for this award because of his passion for giving back, specifically focusing on mental health and children’s grief.
Born with polydactyly, a condition in which a person has more than five fingers or toes on one, or on each, hand or foot, Weaver 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 currently is working on a second degree in family science with a minor in communication.
In nine games played this season, he has totaled 26 tackles and leads the team in sacks (5.0) and quarterback hurries (6). He also has 6.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
He currently ranks third at UK in career tackles for loss (38.5) and is fourth in sacks all-time (21.5).
Weaver is also on the watch lists for the Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award, 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.
