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Former NFL player Kasey Redfern, a journeyman punter who logged snaps in games for the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons, has died at 35 years old.
Jonathan Lawson, the chief investigator at the Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office in South Carolina, told the California Post on Friday that his office was recently notified of Redfern’s passing, but further details were not provided.
A GoFundMe set up for Redfern a little more than three years ago stated he was diagnosed with central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma in May 2023 after doctors discovered a tumor on his brain.
Redfern’s wife, Lauryl, wrote in a Facebook post last month that her husband, who she described as “the love of my life,” had made a “move toward hospice care” after his health had taken a turn for the worse over the summer.
“It seems that everything he’s been experiencing over the last couple weeks — the falls, extreme decline in short term memory, random throwing up, and some other things are likely due to cognitive decline caused by neurotoxicity from all of the treatments he’s had over the last 3.5 years,” Lauryl said.
“His poor brain has had all it can take treatment wise so we want to make sure that he can be as comfortable as possible.”
She added that if Redfern “makes it to Heaven soon, he will have it better than the rest of us and for that all I can do is be thankful and joyful and filled with peace (and a lot of jealousy) that He will be WHOLE and in glory with our Savior — the best place we could ask to be.”
Redfern played collegiately for Wofford, kicking and punting for the Terriers from 2010 to 2013.
In 2014, he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent and he went on to earn contracts from several different teams, including the Chargers, Panthers, Browns, Lions, Cowboys and Falcons.
He played in a total of four regular season NFL games, averaging 42.1 yards per punt.
Texas Tech co-defensive coordinator Rob Greene, Redfern’s former teammate and roommate at Wofford, praised Redfern on his X page in May when he urged his followers to make donations to Redfern’s cancer fight.
“Great man, husband, father, and friend,” Greene said.