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Tucker Witte '25 Honored

Tucker Witte '25 Honored

It was an amazing evening at the Columbia Restaurant on the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday (Jan. 20) as Tucker Witte '25 was named a recipient of the prestigious Minahan Award.

The Minahan Award honors the legacy and spirit of Bill Minahan, who coached Jesuit football from 1966-85, winning the 1968 State Championship. It recognizes Hillsborough County football players who display extraordinary perseverance as well as leadership, selflessness, passion, loyalty, excellence on the field and service to others.

Witte has embodied all of those attributes. In 2023, he was diagnosed with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis after a tumor was found between his eye and his brain and spread to his spleen and ribs. Following 10 months of self-administered chemotherapy treatments – Witte still somehow played in 9 of 13 Jesuit football games that fall – he rang the bell at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in May and is cancer-free. Now, he is serving as an inspiration and in support of others, through service with the National Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The brutal effects of chemotherapy – Witte typically felt awful for the first 5-6 days after treatment and wouldn't leave home – caused Witte to miss 75 school days in the 2023-24 school year. However, with uncommon determination and the support of his teachers and counselors, Witte made the Honor Roll both semesters of his junior year. This fall, back at full strength for his senior year, he was a force on the field for the Tigers, serving as a team captain and leading the defensive line in tackles and sacks.

Witte, who will sign next month to play college football at The Citadel, is the 2nd from Jesuit to win the Minahan Award, along with Junior Vandeross '22. The award was presented by Ali Peek Wilbur, Joey Johnston, and Minahan's widow, Martha Minahan. Bill Minahan died in 2013, 28 years after he had received a kidney transplant. The following year, the Minahan Award was established.

The voting for the award this year was a tie (the first tie in the award's 11-year history), and also receiving the honor along with Witte was Alex Newman of Steinbrenner High.

View images below from the Jan. 20 Minahan Award ceremony in the Siboney Room at the Columbia Restaurant.