JJ Weaver Shares His Story of Grief with Paul Finebaum

J.J. Weaver has never had it easy during his time at Kentucky. The trials and tribulations he overcame are now helping other student-athletes on UK’s campus.

2020 was not a banner year for anybody, but it was especially challenging for the Kentucky EDGE. Weaver’s father was murdered during a home invasion. A few weeks later, his high school football coach lost his battle with cancer.

Like many athletes, he buried himself in his sport to cope with the loss. That was taken from him when he suffered a torn ACL at Florida. Weaver was spiraling when his coaches intervened. He shared Tuesday evening on The Paul Finebaum Show that Mark Stoops’ experience helped set him on the right path.

“Losing somebody you love really loses you. I really lost myself at the moment and I couldn’t cope,” he shared on the SEC Network.

He added, “I ended up talking to Coach Stoops. Me and Coach Stoops really had a similar story. He lost his Dad early in his college years. I could cope with Coach Stoops. I understood how he felt, so that made me feel better about myself.”

.@UKFootball's @jjtimeee shared with @finebaum how losing a father in 2020 helped him to other people process grief 💙 pic.twitter.com/tFaYP5mEV6

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) September 24, 2024

It took Weaver some time to find the right fried counselor. It was a challenge, one that’s now significantly easier for others at the University of Kentucky.

Weaver founded the Perfect Fit Support Group. The peer-led course provides outlets for those who have shared losses to let everything out in a constructive manner. Helping others get through their troubles is now his calling and it’s why he was selected to the Allstate Good Works Team.

“Everything’s going to be okay. I know at this point, you’re going through it. I was at that point before, but you can’t give up. You gotta keep fighting,” he said.

“I tell them I’m here for you. If you need anything, call me. I don’t care if I’m at practice, anything. Call me. Cope with me. If somebody needs somebody to talk to, I feel like I’m that person to help somebody actually understand the grieving, to understand it and get through grieving. It’s really hard when you lose somebody you love to get over that.”

Weaver hosted his first campus-wide grief group meeting on Monday night. Seven students attended, including one who came because she saw the flyer he shared on social media. His commitment to serving others is unwavering and authentic.

You can hear his entire conversation with Paul Finebaum in the fourth hour of today’s podcast.

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