These Former Cleveland Browns Players Will Play in Super Bowl LX

As the Cleveland Browns get ready to witness from afar -- like the rest of the world -- the Super Bowl LX matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, it’s not really surprising to find out that there will be a very limited representation from former Browns in the game.

As a matter of fact, although both Super Bowl teams will feature former Browns’ staff, only one has former Cleveland players on roster.

These are the former Cleveland Browns’ who are set to appear in Super Bowl LX:

Former Cleveland Browns with the New England Patriots

The Patriots have two former Browns’ players on their current roster, waiting to make their Super Bowl debut.

First up is tight end Austin Hooper, who played in Cleveland for the 2020 and 2021 seasons, and has been with New England since 2024. Hooper, who started six of 16 games played this season and recorded 21 catches for 263 yards and two touchdowns started his career with the Atlanta Falcons in 2016, reaching two Pro Bowls there. He’s also spent some time with the Tennessee Titans and Raiders.

Next up is running back D’Ernest Johnson,who started his NFL career with four seasons in Cleveland, after a one-year stop in the Alliance of American Football. Johnson then spent two seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars before moving on to the Arizona Cardinals, with whom he started the 2025 campaign. He was signed by New England in late October, and has contributed mainly on special teams since.

Of course, when talking about connections to Cleveland, head coach Mike Vrabel is the first name that comes up, after he spent the 2024 as a coaching and personnel consultant in Berea. However, he’s also joined on staff by Ashton Grant, his quarterbacks coach, as another one of the key people who’ve spent time in Cleveland.

Grant spent 2020 and 2021 on a Bill Walsh NFL diversity coaching fellowship before becoming the Browns’ offensive quality control coach for two seasons and offensive assistant/quarterbacks for another two seasons. He’s in his first season in Foxborough.

Former Seattle Seahawks with the New England Patriots

Former ties to Cleveland in Seattle are extremely sparse. No current Seahawks’ players have played before for the Browns, actually.

As for staff, Seattle’s safeties coach Jeff Howard -- two years on the job -- served as the Browns’ defensive backs coach/pass game coordinator from 2020 to 2022 under recently fired head coach Kevin Stefanski.

After that, strength and conditioning assistant Jamie Yanchar is the only other member of the current staff who spent time in Cleveland. Yanchar was a volunteer assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Browns from 1986 to 1988.

A reverse connection from Seattle to Cleveland is much stronger, with several well-known names on the Browns’ current roster having played before for the Seahawks including Ethan Pocic, Devin Bush Jr., Shelby Harris and Rayshawn Jenkins.