What Wrestling Can Do: Bob Brams on beating brain cancer and giving back to the sport

At the age of 55, for Bob Brams, a former high school and college wrestler, all was going so well in his legal career and life. Bob was hitting his stride at the top of his practice of over 35 years.

But after a minor fender bender and pestering neck pain, an MRI seemed to be in order. The MRI results went far beyond anything Brams ever expected. Brams was diagnosed with brain cancer; one of the most overwhelming challenges a person will ever face in life.

As it turned out, Brams had a 6-centimeter mass on his left frontal lobe.

Bob, his loving wife, and their two college-bound children, were totally thrown stunned by the cancer diagnosis. And to boot, all of these serious problems were happening over the holidays. Of course, the season turned out to be anything but festive, and the family’s winter trip was promptly canceled.

After the first of two lengthy brain surgeries, Bob ended up with serious complications. Among other setbacks, Brams had a grand mal seizure, a hemorrhagic stroke, a brain bleed, a coma and life support. Things became so desperate that the neurosurgeon gave Brams only a 1% chance of surviving and began preparing the family for the worst. Brams was considered the sickest person on the neuro intensive care unit and he was characterized as a “catastrophic loss.” Despite all he had endured for months, Brams has no memory of any of it.

Following his surgery, Bob was ambulanced to a rehabilitation hospital in Washington DC for a three-and-a-half week stay with 24/7 care. Bob then went through years of therapy to help him to walk, speak and to  think. The grit and discipline he endured throughout his wrestling days helped him beat the odds.

While he’ll have regular MRI’s for life to monitor any cancer growth, Brams fights ahead and refuses to be a statistic. He remains standing strong with the heart of a wrestler. With the coma and other complications, Brams missed virtually all of his son’s wrestling matches during his senior year of high school. Brams had rarely missed any of his son’s matches.

Although now retired due to his brain cancer, Brams was a partner and practice group chair in one of the top international law firms in Washington, D.C., and had a hard driving legal practice around the world. Among other notable matters, Brams traveled to Brazil as counsel for the program director for the 2016 Olympics, and even represented USA Wrestling in its successful effort to bring wrestling back into the Olympics. Brams also sits on the Board of Directors for Beat the Streets (BTS). BTS gets inner city students off the streets and onto the mats! One goal of BTS is to minimize crime.

Wrestling has lived on for Brams from his earliest years. In 2022, the University of Montevallo, an NCAA D2 school in Alabama, formed a wrestling team, which is now at the end of its historic first season. As it turns out, Montevallo’s president, Dr. John Stewart, and Bob Brams were wrestling teammates in high school. Given their friendship and the bond of wrestling, Bob and John always stayed in touch.

Back in high school and after, Brams and Stewart would talk about someday being involved with a wrestling team. Surprisingly enough, things went from idle discussion to reality with the formation of the new Montevallo team. The team is under the capable direction of head coach Daniel Ownbey, a former two-time NCAA D2 champion and assistant coach Michael Land.

In its historic first home match on November 15^th, 2023, Montevallo managed to come from behind and pull off a tough 27-16 victory. The Trustmark Arena on the Montevallo campus was packed and the arena and fans were electric. In attendance were NWCA president, Mike Moyer who lives the sport. Moyer was amazed by the incredible enthusiasm and cheer in the Trustmark Arena.

Prior to the match, President Stewart and Brams awarded the “Brams Courage Over Cancer” endowed-scholarship to a deserving Montevallo wrestler, Savian Graham.

The miracles have continued with Montevallo quickly improving in its first season and even appearing in the NCAA D2 standings as a new program.

Impressively, Montevallo wrestler Gabe Hixenbaugh (133 lbs) rose to become ranked #1 in the NCAA D2 national rankings He has received the No. 1 seed at the D2 Nationals this weekend in Kansas with a 27-0 record. Early in the season, he beat the first and second place wrestlers from last year's NCAA D2 tournament. 

The many values that wrestling offers for life are described in Bob Brams' book, Forever Optimistic. See Brams’ website www.1mbbc.com. The book is sold worldwide, including at Barnes and Nobles stores, and was ranked #1 on AMAZON as a Hot New Release in Wrestling Biographies.

Take a read of Forever Optimistic; give it as a gift. It just may cause you and your friends to rethink their approaches to life. Having come face to face with death, Bob’s reflections on life really make you think. In 2024, why not reflect on your approach to life?

Robert S. Brams                                                                              

Author, Forever Optimistic. 

Purchase the Book and/or Donate: www.1MBBC.com.  

An AMAZON #1 Hot New Release in Wrestling Biographies; #2 in the World on Brain Cancer in 2022