J.J. Weaver Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Nominee

(UK Graphic)

Kentucky senior outside linebacker J.J. Weaver has been named one of a record-breaking 178 nominees for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.

This year’s 178 nominees champion causes including mental health awareness, youth mentorship, hunger relief, domestic abuse prevention, and many more.

In addition to being actively involved with a charitable organization or service group, each player must also maintain strong academic standing to be considered for a spot on the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.

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.

Weaver 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

The final roster of 23 award recipients announced later in September will bring together:

• 11 players from the NCAA FBS
• 11 players from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Divisions II, III and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)
• 1 honorary head coach

All members are selected by a voting panel of former Allstate AFCA Good Works Team members, current and former head coaches and journalists who look for exceptional leadership on and off the football field.

The SEC leads all conferences with 84 selections to the Good Works Team since it began in 1992. Georgia is in first place with 22 honorees, followed by Kentucky with 17.