Member of Eagles' Super Bowl championship team dead at 38 after battling rare cancer

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Bryan Braman, a member with the 2018 Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, died on Thursday at the age of 38.

The former outside linebacker, who spent seven seasons in the NFL, had been battling a rare form of cancer.

According to a GoFundMe page set up to help with the costs of treatment, Braman was diagnosed in February with the aggressive form of the disease. The page did not disclose exactly what type of cancer that the former player was stricken with, only that it was “very rare.”

“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,” an update from June on the fundraising site said. “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.”

As of Thursday afternoon, the GoFundMe page had raised nearly US$90,000.

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The native of Spokane, Wash., signed with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2011 and played his first three seasons with the franchise before leaving for the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency in 2014. He played three seasons with the Eagles before joining the Saints in 2017, but didn’t play a game with New Orleans before being placed on the IR and later released.

He returned to the Eagles for the final three games of the season and the team’s run to the Super Bowl, where Philadelphia defeated the New England Patriots. It was the final game of Braman’s career.

Braman has two daughters, Blakely, 11, and Marlowe, 8.

Former teammates of Braman shared tributes on social media.

“Today is a tough day that hits close to home. I always admired Bryan’s ability to overcome life’s obstacles, his passion for the game, and the love he had for his friends and family,” Eagles’ Lane Johnson posted on X. “Rest in peace, Brother.”

“I didn’t intend on crying this morning. Then I read the news on my teammate, Bryan Braman,” Wrote Emmanuel Acho, a sports media personality who played with Braman on the Eagles in 2014. “Love you Braman. You lived a hard life, and you never complained about it. A champion in life and a warrior in death.”

“Rest in Peace brother,” former Texans superstar JJ Watt wrote. “Gone far too soon.”