Former NFL linebacker and special teams player Bryan Braman, who rose from undrafted free agent to Super Bowl champion, died Thursday morning after a battle with cancer. He was 38.
“You look at his journey and beating the odds to make it to the NFL after going undrafted,” Braman’s agent Sean Stellato told KPRC-TV in Houston. “Not only making it, but producing and becoming a world champion, he had a real hard journey. … 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.”
Stellato told the station that he had learned from one of Braman’s closest friends that the former Long Beach City College player “took his last breath while surrounded by friends and family.”
Braman graduated from Shadle Park High School in Spokane, Wash., and redshirted for a year at Idaho before playing at LBCC in 2007 and 2008. He transferred to West Texas A&M in 2009.
After going undrafted in 2011, Braman signed with the Houston Texans and remained for three seasons, playing in 46 games, mostly on special teams. In the final game of his rookie season, Braman earned the admiration of Texans fans when he tracked down and tackled Tennessee’s Marc Mariani after losing his helmet earlier in the play. The following season, Braman was a Pro Bowl alternate on special teams.
“We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Bryan Braman,” the Texans wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Braman family during this difficult time.
Braman went on to play for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2014-2016, then signed with them again late in the 2017 season for a playoff run that culminated in a 41-33 victory against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
“During his four seasons in Philadelphia, Bryan was a loyal teammate, a supporter of the community, and a valuable member of our Super Bowl LII-winning team,” the Eagles said in a statement. “More importantly, he was a devoted father who passionately loved his family and everyone around him.”
According to a GoFundMe page set up for Braman in February, he was battling “a very rare form of cancer.” Several of Braman’s former teammates contributed to the fund, including retired Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, who donated $10,000.
On Thursday, Watt also paid tribute to his late teammate on X.
“Rest in Peace brother,” Watt wrote in a post that also featured a photo of Braman in his Texans uniform. “Gone far too soon.”
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