Bryan Braman, Super Bowl Champion with Eagles, Dies at 38 After Courageous Battle with Cancer

Former NFL player Bryan Braman, who won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017, passed away on Thursday morning, according to his agent. Braman had been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer back in February.

Braman’s agent, Sean Stellato, revealed on July 3 that the former NFL linebacker was “in the fight of his life.” Stellato said on Thursday that losing Braman was like losing his own son. 

“It’s hard. I feel like I lost my firstborn,” Stellato told KPRC-2 in Houston. “This kid, he gave me his bed every time I came to Philadelphia. He would threaten me if I didn’t stay with him. That’s how unselfish he was and how generous he was. That’s something I’ll always cherish. My heart hurts today.”

Stellato also added that Braman was “special.”

“Bryan, people saw this enormous human being, but his heart was big as his body,” Stellato said. “His spirit was so motivating. He was so real and genuine with everybody. That made him special.”

After Braman was diagnosed with cancer in February, his friend, Williams Jones, started a GoFund me to help offset some of the medical costs that the former NFL player had incurred.The GoFundMe page for Braman raised nearly $90,000, money that will likely now be going to help Braman’s two daughters, who are 11 and 8. 

One of the biggest GoFundMe donations came from JJ Watt, who contributed $10,000 to the cause. Watt also offered his condolences on social media.

Braman and Watt were teammates for three years in Houston starting in 2011 when they were both rookies. Although Watt was a first-round pick, Braman entered the NFL as a long shot to make the Texans roster when he signed as an undrafted free agent out of West Texas A&M. Not only did he make the team, but he ended up spending three seasons in Houston (2011-13) before signing with the Eagles in 2014. 

During his time with the Eagles, Braman played in 51 games over three and a half seasons. The final game of his career came in February 2018 when the Eagles beat the New England Patriots, 41-33, in Super Bowl LII. Braman recorded one special teams tackle in the win. 

Although Braman didn’t see as much playing time as some of his other teammates, he definitely made an impact on them. During an interview in 2024, former Eagles receiver Jordan Matthews said Braman had a special way with his pregame speeches. 

“You have these tiers of pregame speech: You got the dudes that know the right thing to say and then you got the one dude that’s crazy,” Matthews said, referring to Braman. (You can see Braman’s pre-game speech for Super Bowl LII here.)

Besides Watt, several of Braman’s former teammates donated to his GoFundMe, including Duane Brown and Brian Cushing, who both played with him in Houston. There were also quite a few former Eagles teammates who donated, including Chris Long, Rasul Douglas, Brent Celek and Emmanuel Acho.