On September 26, Lauryl Redfern sat down to write a birthday post for her husband. Kasey Redfern, the former NFL punter, was turning 35. The post began with love and ended with the hardest news of their lives: after three and a half years of fighting cancer in his brain, Kasey was moving toward hospice care. Seventeen days later, on October 13, he died.
The birthday post
Lauryl called him the love of her life and used his nickname, Kase Face. Then she told friends and family what the week had really been like. It had been a whirlwind, she wrote, full of emotional and mental overwhelm. On Wednesday, Kasey had seen his doctor, and the conversation was not an easy one. The family decided together that it was time for hospice.
“His poor brain has had all it can take, treatment-wise.”
In recent weeks, Kasey had been falling. His short-term memory had dropped off sharply, and he was getting sick without warning. Lauryl said much of it was likely cognitive decline caused by years of harsh treatments. The goal now was simple: keep him as comfortable as possible.
She shared one more thing, something their nurse practitioner had pointed out. Hospice would bring in help, so Lauryl would no longer have to carry all of the caretaking herself. It would free her to do what she wanted most in the time they had left, which was simply to love on her husband.
Kasey was still at home when she wrote it. The family held on to their faith. Lauryl wrote that healing would come one way or another, and that if Kasey reached Heaven soon, he would be better off than any of them.
How it began
The first sign came in 2023, when Kasey felt weakness on his right side. A checkup pointed toward something neurological, and a CT scan found a tumor in his brain. He was diagnosed with central nervous system lymphoma, a rare cancer that attacks the brain and spinal cord. According to the family’s GoFundMe updates, the diagnosis came in April 2023.
Lauryl later described that moment on the Where the Light Bends podcast. She was crying in the corner of the room. Kasey, she said, was completely at peace. That calm stayed with him through more than three years of treatment, while supporters gave to a GoFundMe called Kasey’s Warriors that raised more than $53,000 for the family.
A man who was used to hearing no
That kind of steadiness was nothing new for Kasey Redfern. The Jamestown, North Carolina native punted at Wofford College, a small school in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and went undrafted. He signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2014, then spent time with the San Diego Chargers, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons.
He finally won a starting job with the Lions in 2017, only to tear his ACL and MCL in the season opener while trying to run after a bobbled snap. He kept going anyway, and in 2019 the Falcons brought him in as an emergency replacement for three games. Four regular-season appearances, seven organizations, and years of fighting for one more chance.
On the podcast, when he was asked what he was proudest of, he did not name a stat. He said he had made it to the NFL from a small school after being told no more times than he could count.
The last days
Kasey Redfern died on October 13, just over two weeks after the family’s hospice decision. He was 35. He leaves behind Lauryl and their two young sons, Ollie and Logan.
After his death, Lauryl said he had outlived what anyone expected and fought an incredible fight.
“He smiled the whole way through, never questioned why.”
She said he always believed God had a purpose in it, and that he hoped right up to the end for a miracle of healing here on Earth. Memorial arrangements have not yet been announced.
For most football fans, Kasey Redfern was a name on a transaction list. For the people who loved him, he was the man who met every no, on the field and off it, with the same quiet peace.