Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Bryan Braman Cause of Death – How Did the Super Bowl LII Champion Die and What Legacy Has He Left Behind?

Bryan Braman will be remembered for his toughness both on and off the field

Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL community and more so the Houston Texans and the Philadelphia Eagles were shocked to find out the passing away of former NFL linebacker Bryan Braman at the young age of just 38 years old. A native of Spokane, Washington, Braman spent seven years in the league playing for the Texans from 2011 to 2013, and the Eagles from 2014 to 2017.

Bryan Braman Cause of Death

Recently, on July 3, 2025, news broke out publicly that Braman was suffering from a rare, aggressive form of cancer, which ultimately proved to be the reason behind his death on Thursday, July 17.

As per reports, Braman was diagnosed with this rare brain cancer in February of this year. Due to its aggressive nature, Braman was undergoing CAR T-cell therapy treatment in Seattle. A GoFundMe campaign was also set up for his treatment, which managed to raise $88,429, including a $10,000 donation by former teammate J.J. Watt.

Braman did reportedly show signs of improvement during his treatment as his cells infused themselves and started to reproduce within the bone marrow, but that was only short lived.

Former NFL linebacker Bryan Braman, who played 97 games with the Texans and Eagles, has passed away at 38 years old after battling a rare, aggressive form of cancer. pic.twitter.com/rNk1WyWyp9
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) July 17, 2025

Bryan Braman NFL Legacy

With respect to the late linebacker’s career in the NFL, Braman was an undrafted free agent from the 2011 NFL draft. He signed with the Texans after the draft.

He became a fan favorite, mostly due to his play on special teams, where he blocked many punts while playing for Houston. He is perhaps most well remembered for a special teams play during his rookie year when he tackled the Tennessee Titans’ punt returner head-on without a helmet.

From 2014, Braman continued his career with the Philadelphia Eagles and where he went on to win Super Bowl LII in 2017 over the New England Patriots. That game would be the last game he played in the NFL, as he retired afterwards.

The Eagles are saddened to learn of the passing of Bryan Braman pic.twitter.com/5VFJKBKbXZ
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) July 17, 2025

After retiring from the game, Braman was known to focus on his family and to give back to the community. Although there is no known information about a spouse, Braman was a father to two daughters, Blakely, age 11, and Marlowe, age 8. They were reported to be by his side throughout his illness.

The passing away of Braman at such an early age is surely a huge loss for the NFL community. There is no doubt that he would have carried on and impacted a large group of people, especially through the youth coaching and outreach programs he took part in.

Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

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Devavrat Kulkarni

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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!