The football community is mourning a tremendous loss.
Bryan Braman, a former linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Houston Texans, died July 16 after a monthslong battle with brain cancer, his longtime agent Sean Stellato confirmed. He was 38.
“I feel like I lost my firstborn,” he told NBC affiliate KPRC 2 July 17. “I prayed on his jersey. Bryan, people saw this enormous human being, but his heart was big as his body. His spirit was so motivating. He was so real and genuine with everybody. That made him special.”
Stellato shared that Braman, who is survived by his 11-year-old and 8-year-old daughters, “took his last breath while surrounded by friends and family” after fighting a “rare, aggressive and recurring form of cancer.”
“You look at his journey and beating the odds to make it to the NFL after going undrafted,” he continued. “Not only making it, but producing and becoming a world champion, he had a real hard journey. In life, we all run this race. To die at age 38, the game of football and his family are hurting today. He was a staple for what football and underdogs are about.”
The NFL star—who played three seasons with the Texans and four with the Eagles—entered a 12-week treatment program in February and required a round-the-clock caregiver, according to a GoFundMe raising money for his medical treatment.
Braman underwent CAR T-cell therapy, which attempts to reprogram a patient’s T cells to target and destroy cancer cells, before returning home to recover. However, he continued hitting hurdles in his treatment after the mass began growing again.
“At this point, Bryan has had to start having chemo treatments that are designed for the treatment program Bryan is in,” the June 20 update said. “Bryan has had to undergo several surgical procedures.”
“The main problem has been that Bryan has not been able to recover from the procedures because of his lowered immunity due to all of these treatments,” the message continued. “By the time he was able to recover so he could continue with the chemo, the cancer has grown exponentially faster, and is now growing around his vital organs.”
However, the note emphasized that Braman was going to keep fighting, adding, “He is looking into other trial treatment programs, and is determined to never give up.”
The athlete, who won the Super Bowl alongside his Eagles teammates in 2018, had an outpouring of love following his death.
“I didn’t intend on crying this morning,” former Eagles linebacker Emmanuel Acho wrote on X. “Then I read the news on my teammate, Bryan Braman. Love you, Braman. You lived a hard life, and you never complained about it. A champion in life and a warrior in death.”
Braman’s Texans teammate J.J. Watt also expressed his grief, writing on X, “Rest in Peace brother. Gone far too soon.”
