I seem to remember him disappearing for a while when he had become a meme, then popped up a few years later and had a really solid season at Wigan and had a fantastic season for them and was a fans favourite and won the pundits back.
There's a running theme with so-called meme players in that they are nearly always confidence players who lose their way and nerve for a period of time. They tend to have ability enough for there to be billing on how far they should theoretically go, and they do well for periods of time before making a high profile mistake or two, which leads to a cycle of misery and mocking as their fragile confidence hits the floor once again.
Bramble was touted as a player who would find his way to a big club - so many eyes were on him - and as his confidence would have it, he made some high profile brain farts, become some kind of laughing stock for them, and then battled with his demons moreso than opponents on the pitch - he could handle most types of attacker and had pace, strength and mobility, but once his nerves were shot or he had that lapse in concentration, everything would cascade down.
He was never as bad a player as the ridicule would say, but he was hampered from the career his ability suggest he might by being so fragile and capable of miserable runs of form.