Ron Brace, a former Patriots defensive tackle, has died at 29 years old.
Family members of Brace, a second-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, confirmed his death to MassLive.com, but did not provide any further details.
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Brace's former teammates at Boston College (where he played from 2005-08) also corroborated reports of his death via social media. Al Washington, who played at Boston College from 2002-05, posted a note to Twitter, saying, "Words cannot express how deeply saddened I am at the loss of my teammate my friend and my brother Ron Brace.