When New England Patriots offensive lineman Ben Brown will take the field next Sunday for the Super Bowl, he will not be the first member of his family to do so.
Browns’ grandfather had already earned himself
a pair of championship rings in the 1960s. Allen Brown was a backup tight end for the Green Bay Packers, whose three-year career in the NFL overlapped with the organization’s wins in Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II.
Six decades later, his grandson will get a chance to add to the family collection.
“That was always pretty cool,” Brown said about this grandfather. “Growing up, we didn’t really fully understand what that meant, but you would just see Papa would have both of his Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II rings on. They weren’t as flashy back then — they had one or two diamonds on them — but definitely super special.”
Despite the elder Brown being part of two Super Bowl-winning teams, he was not one to open up too much about his exploits before dying in 2020.
“He did some, but really my grandfather, he didn’t really like — he would talk some stories and stuff, but he really cared about his children and his grandchildren more,” the younger Brown said.
Like his grandpa and several other relatives, he played college football at Ole Miss. Afterwards, he entered the NFL but was not selected in the 2022 draft. Instead, Brown joined the Bengals as an undrafted free agent. He later also spent time with the Seahawks and Raiders, but appeared in only one game before the Patriots picked him up from the Las Vegas practice squad in October 2024.
Since then, he has been a valuable presence along New England’s offensive line. After starting all 10 games he appeared in during the 2024 season, he was retained as an exclusive rights free agent and installed as a top backup under new head coach Mike Vrabel.
Brown ended up starting four games this year, and along the way earned himself a two-year, $5 million contract extension. He also earned the opportunity to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps.
“It’s definitely something that I’ve always dreamed about doing,” Brown explained. “Now that it’s actually happened, it’s still kind of hard to fathom that we’re going to the Super Bowl. Just eternally grateful to be here with the Patriots, playing for coach Vrabel, playing with all these guys, all my teammates and everything. Just so excited to be here.”
