Former Bengals and Notre Dame star pass rusher Ross Browner died Tuesday at 67.
Former Cincinnati cornerback Louis Breeden said Browner died of complications from COVID-19 after battling the illness for a month, per a story published on the team website.
Browner was an explosive defensive end who finished his career with 59 sacks, good for fifth on the Bengals all-time sack list. He started 121 games in his nine seasons with the club, and he was integral in their run to Super Bowl XVI.
Prior to his professional career, Browner was a dominant college player. He was a two-time national champion with the Irish and a College Football Hall of Fame inductee.
A two-time unanimous All-American, Browner is the school record holder for career tackles by a defensive lineman, tackles-for-loss in a single season (28.0, 1976), career fumbles recovered (12) and career tackles-for-loss (77.0).
Browner was also named the Maxwell Award winner as the nation’s best player and the Lombardi Award as the nation’s best lineman in 1977.
For more coverage of the Bengals, visit All Bengals
