The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman used to walk in front of the funeral procession.
حدثنا نصر بن علي الجهضمي وهارون بن عبد الله الحمال قالا حدثنا محمد بن بكر البرساني أنبأنا يونس بن يزيد الأيلي عن الزهري
كان رسول الله ﷺ وأبو بكر وعمر وعثمان يمشون أمام الجنازة
[Hasan] Reported by Tirmidhi, Funerals, Chapter on What Has Been Said About Walking in Front of the Funeral, no. 1010, from the hadith of Muhammad bin Bakr, with this wording. He quoted Bukhari as saying, "This is a mistaken hadith, Muhammad bin Bakr erred in it," and it has another flaw as well, see no. 707, and see the preceding hadith, for it serves as a corroborating witness for it.