Former NFL assistant coach Kippy Brown died this week, Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle reports. Brown was 71.
Brown spent 22 seasons as an NFL assistant, coaching for seven different teams. His final job was the wide receivers coach with the Seahawks on Pete Carroll’s staff from 2010-14. The Seahawks’ win in Super Bowl XLVIII gave Brown his only Super Bowl ring.
Brown was Jimmy Johnson’s offensive coordinator for two seasons with the Dolphins and served as the Lions’ associate head coach under Rod Marinelli during Detroit’s 0-16 season in 2008. He interviewed for the Texans’ head coaching job in 2006 after Dom Capers was fired, but Houston hired Gary Kubiak instead.
Brown coached Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Johnson in his four seasons in Houston.
In addition to the Dolphins, Seahawks, Lions and Texans, Brown also coached with the Bucs, Jets and Packers.
Brown was head coach of the Memphis Maniax in the short-lived XFL in 2001.
As a player, Brown became the first Black quarterback to play at Memphis during his time there from 1974-77.
Seahawks Clips
The Browns announced the signing of defensive end Sam Williams on Tuesday and they also announced the addition of a veteran cornerback.
They have signed Noah Igbinoghene to their 53-man roster. Igbinoghene spent the preseason with the Seahawks, but was released on Sunday.
Igbinoghene played in 32 games and made 12 starts for the Commanders over the last two seasons. He had 35 tackles and a sack last year.
The Browns placed defensive tackle Kalia Davis on injured reserve and waived cornerback Michael Coats in corresponding moves. They also signed defensive tackle Sam Kamara, running back Jaleel McLaughlin, tight end Messiah Swinson, and defensive tackle Chris Williams to their practice squad.
When the sale of the Seahawks closes, Vinod Khosla will become the controlling owner. He’ll simultaneously own (at least for a while) a piece of the 49ers.
As noted by Front Office Sports, Khosla and his family still own 3.1 percent of the 49ers. A sale of that minority stake is required, but it’s not mandated before Khosla acquires ownership of the Seahawks.
It can take some time to find a buyer, and the 49ers (per FOS) have final say over the person who acquires it. For now, Khosla will hold at least 30 percent of the Seahawks — and more than three percent of one of their biggest rivals.
While also holding no portion of the Steelers, even though he was a fan, still is a fan, and still watches all of their games.
A group led by Vinod Khosla won the bidding for control of the Seahawks over a group led by Aditya Mittal and Wyc Grousbeck. The second-place selection has received a chance to partner with the victors.
Front Office Sports reports that members of the Mittal-Grousbeck group have been invited to buy a piece of the team.
It’s not known whether they accepted, and none of the minority partners have been named. At a sale price of $9.612 billion, Khosla was required to come up with $2.88 billion in cash, representing 30 percent of the team. The remaining 70 percent ($6.73 billion) could come from up to 24 limited partners.
The proposed deal has received unanimous approval by the other owners. Which means that the various percentages to be held by the minority owners were approved, too.
The difference comes from control. Khosla will run the show. For everyone else, it’s part-investment, part-vanity project. The limited partners become members of an exclusive club.
But the real prize is membership in the more exclusive club — controlling ownership of an NFL franchise. In that regard, Khosla beat out Mittal and Grousbeck.
It was a bit of a surprise when the Seahawks waived wide receiver and return man Emmanuel Henderson yesterday, as he was a sixth-round pick who looked good in the preseason. But Henderson remains in the Seahawks’ plans.
Henderson cleared waivers today, and the Seahawks are planning to bring him back to the practice squad.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said during the preseason that he wanted Henderson thinking about being a great NFL wide receiver and an All-Pro kick returner. The Seahawks love his potential, even if they don’t think he’s ready to contribute in Week One.
Henderson is accustomed to having to bide his time before making a big contribution: He spent three years at Alabama but didn’t get on the field much before transferring to Kansas last year. In his one year at Kansas, Henderson was chosen by the Big 12 coaches as a first-team All-Big 12 returner and a third-team All-Big 12 receiver. Now the Seahawks will hope Henderson can once again take some time to develop and turn into a significant contributor.
On Sunday, the NFL placed three players on paid leave, officially known as the Commissioner Exempt List. The question now becomes: When will they return?
Under the Personal Conduct Policy, placement on paid leave “will generally last until the Disciplinary Officer and/or the league makes a disciplinary decision and any appeal from that discipline is fully resolved.” Because the league doesn’t finalize its disciplinary decisions until after the player’s criminal case ends, paid leave continues at least through the conclusion of the prosecution.
It doesn’t always work that way. In 2024, Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers missed seven games on paid leave. He was then reinstated before his case ended. In January 2025, a jury acquitted him of domestic assault charges.
So why did he return from paid leave before the case ended? That was never explained.
The fact that it happened for Peppers means that it could possibly happen for Packers running back Josh Jacobs, Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper, and/or Seahawks cornerback Terrion Arnold.
Some in league circles believe the Peppers case is an indication that the NFL will, in some cases, treat paid leave like an advance suspension, with the player (if later found responsible) getting credit for the games missed and returning the salary earned during the paid absence.
What that means for Jacobs, Cooper, and Arnold remains to be seen. Given that Jacobs is facing a misdemeanor battery charge, and in light of the fact that the baseline suspension for domestic violence is six games, it’s possible he’ll be reinstated after six games, even if his case is still pending.
It’s not a bad approach. Indefinite paid leave pending the resolution of the case puts extra pressure on the player to do a plea deal, and it incentivizes the prosecution to drag its feet. Yes, the player is getting paid. But he’s not playing. He wants to play.
Cooper’s situation is similar, although he’s facing a felony charge. Arnold’s case doesn’t involve domestic violence, but it includes eight serious felonies and a potential sentence of life in prison.
Regardless, the presumption that the player on paid leave won’t be back until his criminal case ends isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, as the Peppers case demonstrated. Any of the three players placed on paid leave could be back before their cases end.
The Seahawks made it official that running back Zach Charbonnet will start the season on the physically unable to perform list, and that makes it clear how big a role rookie running back Jadarian Price is going to have in the defending champions’ offense.
Last year the Seahawks used a two-back system with Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker sharing carries. Walker left in free agency and Charbonnet has still not fully recovered from the knee injury he suffered in last season’s playoffs, and the Seahawks did not add any notable running backs other than Price.
Price is the clear-cut No. 1 running back in Seattle, and backing him up will be George Holani, who gained just 73 yards on 22 carries last season, and Emanuel Wilson, a career backup in Green Bay who signed with the Seahawks this offseason.
The good news for the Seahawks is that Price got rave reviews in the offseason, with head coach Mike Macdonald saying he was ready for a big workload and quarterback Sam Darnold calling Price a special player. The Seahawks may need Price to be special if they’re going to repeat as champions.
The Seahawks finally signed cornerback Terrion Arnold, more than two weeks after agreeing to a deal with him. The league, as expected, promptly placed Arnold on paid leave.
The administrative move flows from eight felony charges against Arnold, arising from an alleged kidnapping and armed robbery that happened earlier this year in Florida.
On Sunday, Seahawks G.M. John Schneider was asked about the factors the team considered in signing the 2024 first-round pick.
“There is a ton of different factors that went into it,” Schneider told reporters. “Obviously, the legal stuff has to take care of itself, and we totally respect that. There are tons of different buckets to this situation. Just the advocates that we had, you know. We traded for Leon Washington the first year that we were here, and he’s basically like his father. Leon [Washington] will always be a legend here, and he has a great relationship with the organization.
“The character just didn’t really fit with the allegations and everybody we’ve talked to. But yes, there’s a long-term play. This isn’t a, ‘Let’s see how quickly we can get this done.’ Let’s get him in the building and see how it goes.”
Still, the allegations aren’t pretty. Schneider himself has called them “shocking.” He also has admitted that, if Arnold had been on the Seahawks roster when the allegations came to light, they “probably” would have had to release him.
With the allegations still unresolved, it’s hard to understand why, if the allegations would have compelled the Seahawks to cut Arnold, they were comfortable signing him.
This isn’t a second chance. The aftermath of first chance still lingers; Arnold hasn’t had his day in court.
If Arnold is convicted, he’ll likely never play for the Seahawks. If he agrees to a plea deal and satisfies its terms, then it will be time for a second chance.
Frankly, this seems to be a wager by the Seahawks. They’re willing to pay him not to play so that they’ll have a relationship in place with him if/when the case is resolved and he’s able to play.
For now, Arnold remains entitled to all constitutional protections. He gets his day in court. Still, until the allegations are resolved, they are (as Schneider said) “shocking.” It’s hard to imagine the league letting Arnold play until the criminal case is completely wrapped up with something other than a guilty verdict and a lengthy prison sentence.
The Seahawks cut cornerback Trevon Diggs on Sunday. It’s not a permanent farewell.
Via Greg Bell of the Tacoma News Tribune, G.M. John Schneider said Sunday that the team intends to add Diggs to the practice squad.
Because Diggs is a vested veteran, he won’t be required to pass through waivers. He could, in theory, sign with any other team’s 53-man roster or practice squad. Given his recent arrival to Seattle, however, it’s likely there won’t be a high demand for his services elsewhere.
Schneider said the players, coaches, and staff love Diggs, and that he needs more time to acclimate.
Diggs was a second-round pick of the Cowboys in 2020. He was a two-time Pro Bowler in Dallas.
Cornerback Trevon Diggs’ time with the Seahawks did not last long. He signed with the team on Aug. 19 but was part of the team’s move to reach 53 players on Sunday.
Diggs intercepted a pass and made a tackle in the team’s preseason finale, but it wasn’t enough for him to lock up a roster spot.
His career could be over, with three teams having cut him since Dec. 30.
Diggs has played only 22 games and undergone three procedures on his knee in the past three seasons.
The Seahawks’ other notable move was placing running back Zach Charbonnet on reserve/PUP as expected. He injured his knee on his fifth carry in the divisional round of the 2025 playoffs after running for 730 yards and 12 touchdowns on 184 carries in the regular season.
The Seahawks announced they terminated the contracts of vested veterans: S D’Anthony Bell, T Bobby Hart, CB Noah Igbinoghene, RB Velus Jones Jr., S Rodney Thomas II, TE Nick Vannett and WR Cody White.
They waived T Logan Brown, CB Michael Dansby, T Kellen Diesch, DT Deven Eastern, S AJ Finley, CB Andre Fuller, LB Jalan Gaines, WR Emmanuel Henderson Jr., WR Julian Hicks, S Maxen Hook, DE Aidan Hubbard, LB Jared Ivey, S Tysheem Johnson, RB Justin Jones, LB Marvin Jones Jr., C Federico Maranges, WR Rashad Rochelle, DT Uso Seumalo, LB Jamie Sheriff, DT J.R. Singleton, DT Bubba Thomas, CB Jordan Washington, WR Ricky White III and RB Jacardia Wright.
LB Power Echols, T Amari Kight, FB Brock Lampe and LB Aaron Smith were waived with injury designations.
WR Irv Charles was placed on injured reserve with a designation to return.
