Jack Hoffman, Nebraska fan known for 'The Run,' dies of cancer at 19 - ESPN

Jack Hoffman, the young Nebraska football fan who ran for a touchdown during the 2013 Cornhuskers' spring game and became a catalyst for pediatric brain cancer fundraising, died Wednesday after a 14-year battle with cancer, according to the Team Jack Foundation. He was 19.

Hoffman was diagnosed with a cancerous glioma when he was 5. Doctors told the family that most of his golf ball-size tumor could not be removed. But his father, Andy Hoffman, did exhaustive research and found a doctor in Boston who extracted more than 90% of the tumor.

Jack's favorite player was Nebraska running back Rex Burkhead, and before the surgery, Andy reached out to Nebraska hoping his son could meet him. Burkhead had lunch with Hoffman and raced him on the field, and the family forged an enduring friendship with the former NFL back.

In late 2011, when the Cornhuskers trailed Ohio State by three touchdowns, Burkhead fired up some of his teammates by mentioning the inspirational boy he'd just met. «Hey, Jack wouldn't give up,» he told them, «so why should we?» Nebraska rallied, and Burkhead scored the game-winning touchdown.

A year and a half later, in April 2013, Nebraska's coaches decided to put Jack in the spring game. Wearing an ill-fitting helmet that bounced as he ran, Jack, who was then 7, ran for a 69-yard-touchdown as 60,000 fans roared. Video of the play garnered more than 10 million views on YouTube.

Hoffman went to Washington to meet President Barack Obama and won an ESPY award for the best moment in sports. Known simply as «The Run,» the moment helped Hoffman's dad launch the Team Jack Foundation. The venture, started in tiny Atkinson, Nebraska — population 1,245 — has raised more than $14 million to aid pediatric brain cancer