CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard Football tight end Tyler Neville has been named recipient of the New England Football Writers Jerry Nason Award, which is presented to the senior student-athlete who has succeeded in football against all odds. The award will be presented at the New England Football Writers' Captains and Awards Banquet on Thursday, Dec. 7, at the Sheraton Framingham (Mass.) Hotel and Conference Center.

Prior to his arrival at Harvard in 2021, Neville was able to overcome a variety of physical ailments. He was born deaf and mute, and in each year over his first 12 years he endured a surgery for his ears, nose or throat. As a teen, a malady known as Pectus Excavatum, a condition in which the person's breast bone is sunken into the chest, presented a challenge. Severe cases of pectus excavatum can eventually interfere with the function of the heart and lungs,

In 2016, Neville began a battle with Hodgkins Lymphoma, a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system, which is part of the body's germ-fighting immune system. 

Despite all his physical ailments, Neville starred in both football and basketball at Lafayette High School in Williamsburg, Va. Never losing sight of his goal to play college football, Neville has been a three-year starter for the Crimson, a first-team All-Ivy selection and was a member of the 2022 New England Football Writers All-New England team, all while serving as a mentor for younger players in the program.

Neville is the fifth Harvard player to be honored by the NEFW with the Nason Award. The honor has been presented to Jim Nelson (1960), Paul Guzzi (1964), Bob Flanagan (1966) and Ed Laudawski (1970). The award has been presented since 1958.