Tucker Witte summed up the past year of his life, his passion and his future with a profound four-word post on X on Friday.
“Beat cancer, Lakeland’s next!”
With the post was a video of Witte, a rising senior defensive lineman at Jesuit, ringing the bell at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Tampa to signify that after 10 months of chemotherapy to fight Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH), he was cancer free.
Saturday, he lined up for Jesuit to take on defending state champion Lakeland in the spring game.
“To put back on No. 94 after being officially declared cancer free, and to play for the first time in a year off of chemotherapy is going to be truly special,” Witte said. “To take the field with my brothers and my coaches who have supported me throughout this journey will be amazing.”
2025 USA Today Top 100: Who are the top rising senior football recruits in Florida?
Recruiting: West Boca Raton's Mallory cousins share special connection, college dreams
FHSAA executive director suggested using NIL to limit transfers. He was immediately overruled.
‘No football’ was way worse
It all started with a shiner suffered in practice last spring.
“Instead of fading, the lesion grew and grew until my eye was completely swollen shut,” Witte said. “I practiced with it and started in the spring game where a great hit on the opposing quarterback really amped up the swelling.”
Witte’s doctor ordered X-rays. After four days of tests, scans and a surgical biopsy at St. Jospeh’s, Witte and his family were told the shiner actually was a five-and-half inch tumor situated between his brain and eye.
“(It) had wrapped around from the inside and began to rapidly attack the bone in my orbital socket,” he said. “There were also lesions in my ribs, my lymph nodes lit up like a Christmas tree, and my spleen was severely enlarged.”
The diagnosis was LCH, a rare form of cancer. According to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, one out of every 200,000 children develop LCH each year. The majority of cases are found in children 1 to 3 years old. For someone older than 15, it’s more than one in 1 million.
As a result of the diagnosis, Witte was told he couldn’t participate in any contact sports. Because summer chemo treatments shrunk his spleen and resolved the swollen eye, Witte ended up receiving a provisional clearance to play in the fall — and started nine games — but the initial news was chilling.
“Being told, ‘No football’ was way worse that being told, ‘You have cancer.’ I love this game and my brothers on the field,” he said.
‘Brutal but worth it’
Witte did 12 cycles of advanced chemotherapy treatments, where he could inject himself at home.
“It was chemo, but was more targeted and less toxic,” he said. “I was sick as a dog and beyond exhausted.”
Witte lost a lot of weight but never lost his hair. He tried to hide the side effects from his teammates to keep their spirits up. To help with that, he would attend Jesuit games on Friday nights and then go home and inject himself to start a new cycle. It’s a testament to his determination that he still managed to record 22 tackles and three tackles for loss on a Jesuit squad that reached the regional championship game last season.
“It put a lot of stuff in perspective,” he said. “Brutal but worth it.”
It became clear in December that the treatments were really working and he was going to be OK. In addition to football, Witte was on the Tigers Track & Field team and placed sixth in regionals in the javelin with a personal best throw of 45.34 meters.
‘Just wait for what’s to come’
Witte walked by the bell at St. Joseph’s weekly. He passed it on the way to his oncology appointments.
Friday was different.
He wasn’t walking past the bell; he was walking to it.
“Finally, ringing that bell after walking by it … surrounded by my friends, family, doctors and nurses, brought a joy that I can’t compare to anything. God is good!”
For the first time in a year, Witte can play football without the cloud of cancer. He can play without having to get bloodwork done to make sure his platelet count and other markers were strong enough to allow him to play.
He can just play the game he loves.
“I have a message for all you college coaches out there,” Witte said. “If you like my film from when I was on treatment, just wait for what’s to come this year!”
