Ross Dean Browner (March 22, 1954 – January 4, 2022) was an American professional football defensive end who played for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL), mainly for the Cincinnati Bengals.

He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and was selected by the Bengals in the first round (eighth overall) of the 1978 NFL draft.

[1] Ross Browner was one of the most decorated defensive players in the history of college football.

He won the Lombardi Trophy as the nation's best lineman and the Maxwell Award as the nation's best player and again won the UPI Lineman of the Year Award, the only player ever to win it twice.

During his senior year in college, he was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the subheading of "Notre Dame's Peerless Ross Browner."

After retiring, Browner lived for several years in Mason, Ohio, and worked in sports entertainment, the cleaning industry, insurance, mortgages, and business development.