'Tough as Nails' Kid Headed Back to Boston

 

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By Randy York

Last November, Jack Hoffman and a school friend held up a sign at the Nebraska-Northwestern football game in Lincoln. It said "BTN" in huge block letters and spelled out what each letter means to their family. Unlike the BTN acronym we all know as Big Ten Network, the Hoffman family of Atkinson, Neb., had another take on it: Burkhead's Tough as Nails.

Every Nebraska player, coach and fan knows how true that three-word statement is. In fact, every opposing player, coach and fan knows how true it is. But here's the irony of two little kids holding up a sign designed to focus attention on Rex Burkhead, the family's favorite athlete who has become a personal friend. Whatever hero status an All-Big Ten running back commands in the Hoffman household, Burkhead would return the favor quicker than the snap of his fingers. He would tell everyone what he's known about Jack since meeting him last fall: Little Jack is tough as nails, too ... and every bit as tough as he is.

For those unfamiliar with this story, Jack is a shy, quiet and humble 6-year-old boy from Atkinson, Neb., who has brain cancer. This week is a big week for him and his family, and Jack will have to be at his toughest when he flies back to Boston on Tuesday for an MRI and four important appointments on Wednesday. His eighth MRI in the last eight months will determine the success of Jack's second surgery at Boston's Children's Hospital last Oct. 10.

"We're getting nervous going back, but trusting the Lord," said Jack's dad, Andy Hoffman. "We just want to thank everyone out there who continues to pray for Jack. We appreciate the support we've received locally, nationally and even in other countries. I can't tell you how uplifting it's been for Jack and our family. It has been absolutely awesome to receive prayers and cards from people we don't even know."

Hoffman says the support spread virally because of one tough as nails football player who chose to accept a recommendation from Nebraska Associate Athletic Director Keith Zimmer that  he meet Jack and his family the week before the Washington game. From that day forward, a strong relationship was born between Big Rex and Little Jack. It has, by all accounts, blossomed into a full-fledged friendship between two families - the Hoffmans, including Jack's mom and dad, Bri and Andy, and his sisters Ava, 4, and Reese, 13 months; and the Burkheads, including Rex's mom and dad, Robyn and Rick, his brother, Ryan, and Rex's four grandparents on both sides of the family.

The convergence of these two families provides a human highlight reel because once Nebraska's fan base was clued in on the red "Team Jack-Pray" bracelets that Rex and his teammates wore and continue to wear, it became a poignant backdrop to the Huskers' first season in the Big Ten. When ABC announcers discussed Team Jack towards the end of the Ohio State game in the greatest comeback in Nebraska football history, the story spread even wider, and there are now 3,000 Team Jack facebook members and 45,000 visits to the Jack Hoffman Caring Bridge website that chronicles his weekly progress.

"The support is deep, meaningful and powerful," Jack's dad said. "Every time we put a photo of Jack up, we receive uplifting comments and shows of support. Husker fans are simply the best, and we cannot overstate how awesome their love, prayers and support have been for our family. We have the greatest fans in college football, not just because they pack Memorial Stadium every game for 50 years, but because they pack their local churches and have stormed the heavens, praying for our son. That, to me, is the true power of what Rex did."

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