Former Penn State linebacker Bani Gbadyu died early Saturday morning from complications related to pancreatic cancer.
Close friends confirmed the news, saying his wife, Molly, and immediate family were by his side at Hershey Medical Center. They expect funeral and celebration of life services to be announced shortly in the Lebanon, Pa. area.
He appeared in good health when he and Molly and their two oldest children attended Penn State’s Sept. 10 victory over Ohio University.
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He just turned 34 this summer.
Gbadyu was known for his uplifting, oversized personality from days growing up in Gaithersburg, Maryland to his time at Penn State through a career in sales and raising his family in Lebanon.
He and his father and older brother had escaped war-torn Liberia in West Africa when he was a young child.