A pair of former Tennessee football teammates are back together in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns. Wide receiver Cedric Tillman and running back Dylan Sampson were both on the Vols’ 2022 squad that won 10 regular-season games and the Orange Bowl over Clemson.
In Sampson’s NFL debut on Sunday, the pair were crucial in pushing the Browns down the field for a score. To open the second half, Cleveland quarterback Joe Flacco hit Sampson for a seven-yard completion. The next play also went to Sampson, this time on the ground, for no gain.
After Flacco completed an 18-yard pass, they suffered a 10-yard penalty, he completed an 11-yard pass and missed on an incompletion, Tillman stepped up. He grabbed a 13-yard reception on 3rd-and-9 to move the chains just past midfield.
A 0-yard run and a five-yard penalty saw Sampson re-enter. He caught a pass from Flacco for 14 yards to set up 3rd-and-1, before catching another pass for five yards to earn another first down. Now in the red zone, he hit Sampson, again, for seven yards before letting him run for four more.
To cap it off, Tillman caught a five-yard touchdown pass for his first of the year. This put the Browns up 16-14. However, it was the last score for Cleveland of the day, with the Browns losing to the Bengals 17-16.
Ced with the score 😤#NFLVols | #GBO🍊
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pic.twitter.com/qxlI1kIoSi— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) September 7, 2025
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By the end of the game, Sampson had totalled 12 carries for 29 yards. He also contributed eight catches for 64 yards. Tillman reached 52 receiving yards and the touchdown on five receptions.
Sampson is in his rookie year after spending three seasons in Knoxville. In his final year with UT, he broke the school’s single-season program record for rushing touchdowns with 22. He also put up 1,485 yards en route to earning SEC Offensive Player of the Year and a Second-Team All-American nod.
Tillman started his career with Tennessee in 2018 and stuck through the coaching change. In 2021, he had a breakout year under Josh Heupel while producing 1,081 yards on 64 receptions to go with 12 touchdowns. He missed a good bit of 2022 due to injury, but was still drafted by the Browns.
