Former Florida Gators and Oakland Raiders linebacker Neiron Ball passed away Tuesday morning nearly a year after suffering a brain aneurysm, his sister Natalie Ball Myricks told The MMQB.
Ball, 27, was well-liked among his Gator teammates during his collegiate career spanning 2011 to ’14. During his sophomore season Ball was diagnosed with a rare congenital condition known as arteriovenous malformation (AVM), where the brain’s blood vessels get tangled and rupture. He missed a full college season but made an improbable recovery and returned to the team, and in 2015 the Raiders selected him in the fifth round of the draft.