Ethan Pocic ( ) (born August 5, 1995) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

at LSU. Pocic has also played the

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

position. He was selected by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

in the second round of the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia ...

. He was a second-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

selection by SEC coaches as a junior in 2015. As a senior in 2016, Pocic was a finalist for the

Rimington Trophy The Dave Rimington Trophy is awarded to the player considered to be the best American football center in college football. Dave Rimington was a center who played at the University of Nebraska from 1979 to 1982. A member of the National College ...

. That year, he was a first-team All-SEC selection by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

Professional career

Pre-draft

Pocic received an invitation to the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

and helped the South defeat the North 16-15. During the Senior Bowl, he met with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

, and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

. He also attended the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foo ...

and completed all the combine and positional drills. Although he attended LSU's

Pro Day The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

, he chose to only run positional drills for scouts and representatives. NFL draft experts and analysts projected Pocic to be a second or third round pick in the

. He was ranked the second best center in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...

'', and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, was ranked the fourth best interior offensive lineman in the draft by NFL analyst

Bucky Brooks William Eldridge "Bucky" Brooks Jr. (born January 22, 1971) is a sportswriter and former professional American football player. He played for five National Football League (NFL) teams in a five-year career, primarily as a kick returner. Brooks i ...

, and was ranked the fifth best interior offensive lineman by NFL analyst

Mike Mayock Michael Francis Mayock (born August 14, 1958) is a former American football executive and former player who served as the general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) from 2019 to 2021. Mayock was a safety with ...

Seattle Seahawks

The

selected Pocic in the second round (58th overall) of the

. Pocic made his first career start on October 22, 2017, against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

in Week 7. In his rookie season, Pocic started five games at left guard in place of an injured

Luke Joeckel Luke Tobias Joeckel (; born November 6, 1991) is a former American football offensive lineman. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars second overall in the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas A&M, starting all 37 games at ...

and the final six games of the season at right guard in place of an injured

Oday Aboushi Oday Aboushi (born June 5, 1991) is a Palestinian-American American football offensive guard who is a free agent. He played college football at Virginia and was selected by the New York Jets in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He has also ...

, allowing only two sacks all season. He was named to the 2017

PFWA All-Rookie Team Following each National Football League (NFL) season, the Pro Football Writers Association (PFWA) compiles an honorary All-Rookie Team to recognize that season's most outstanding rookies at each position as adjudged by sportswriters of the PFWA. T ...

after a solid rookie season. On October 11, 2019, Pocic was placed on injured reserve with a back injury. He was designated for return from injured reserve on November 27, 2019, and began practicing with the team again. He was activated on December 13, 2019. He was placed back on injured reserve on December 31, 2019. Pocic re-signed with the Seahawks on March 22, 2021. He suffered a knee sprain in Week 1 and was placed on injured reserve on September 15, 2021. He was activated on October 15.

Cleveland Browns

On April 6, 2022, Pocic signed with the Browns. He was named the Browns starting center to begin the season. He started the first 10 games before suffering a knee injury in Week 11. He was placed on injured reserve on November 22. He was activated on December 23. On March 15, 2023, Pocic signed a three-year, $18 million contract extension with the Browns.

References

External links

*
Cleveland Browns bio

LSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pocic, Ethan 1995 births Living people American football centers American football offensive tackles Cleveland Browns players LSU Tigers football players People from Lemont, Illinois Seattle Seahawks players Players of American football from Cook County, Illinois Players of American football from DuPage County, Illinois