Former NFL linebacker Bryan Braman battling ‘very rare’ cancer

Bryan Braman, who spent seven years in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the Eagles in February 2018, has been battling a “life threatening” and “very rare” cancer, according to a GoFundMe page.

While the fundraiser didn’t list the specific cancer, Braman, 38, underwent CAR T-cell therapy in Seattle as part of a 12-week treatment program and needed to sell his final car — while also not owning a home — to pay for a motel to stay in and for the treatment.

William Jones, the organizer, created the page in February and shared an update on June 20 that said Braman was back with family, but has encountered obstacles recovering from multiple surgeries as a result of his “lowered immunity due to all of these treatments.”

“By the time he was able to recover so he could continue with the chemo, the cancer has grown expedentially [sic] faster, and is is [sic] now growing around his vital organs,” Jones wrote. “The Dr’s are now concerned because of his treatment, his chemo options are very limited. They have tried all of the various treatment options, and unfortunately, none of them are working against this cancer. 

“But Bryan has not given up. He is looking into other trial treatment programs, and is determined to never give up.”

The page — with a fundraising goal of $25,000 — had raised over $38,000 as of Friday morning, including a $10,000 donation from former Texans teammate J.J. Watt.

“Bryan will be able to get the necessities for his diet,” Jones wrote in the June 20 update. “He needs to keep up his energy through his diet, and his foods/vitamins are extremely expensive, as are fresh juices which are what he needs. These donations will also go along [sic] way too [sic] help cover some of the treatment costs that are not covered by insurances. That has greatly helped Bryan to not have to focus on those, and now he can relaxe [sic] and recuperate.”

Braman, a linebacker and Spokane, Wash. native, signed with the Texans in 2011 as an undrafted free agent out of West Texas A&M and spent the first three years of his career in Houston, mostly carving out a special teams role.

He then played with the Eagles from 2014-16 and became one of their core special teams players.

Braman returned to Philadelphia just before the start of the 2017 postseason after the Saints cut him — on injured reserve at the time with an undisclosed injury — at the end of the preseason.

He recorded one tackle on a kickoff during the Eagles’ Super Bowl win over the Patriots that year, which marked his final NFL season.