Dan Ross was elected to the Hall of Fame for his accomplishments in the sport of football.
Ross re-wrote the Northeastern record books as an All America tight end, and went on to star in the National Football League, where he earned All Pro status in both the NFL and USFL, and caught a Super Bowl record 11 footballs in the 1983 Super Bowl when his Cincinnati Bengals lost against San Francisco. Ross, whose last full season of college ball was in 1978, still holds several records at Northeastern. Ross holds the University marks for receiving yardage in one season, 988, and the record for career yardage, 2,343. The New England and University records for passes caught in a season and in a career were also set by Ross with 68 and 143 respectively. In Ross' collegiate heyday, few would argue that he was the area's premier receiver, and perhaps the best at his trade in the East. His specialty was attracting crowds and still hanging onto the football. His tremendous power, concentration, hands, blocking ability and open field running added up to one of the most exciting athletes to ever take the gridiron in New England.
He blossomed as a junior when he caught 60 passes for 913 yards and four touchdowns, followed by 988 yards and seven touchdowns a year later, as he copped both of New England's highest football honors, the Bulger Lowe (Outstanding Player) and Harry Agganis (Outstanding Senior) Awards. After his final game, Northeastern officially retired his jersey, number 84. Professional scouts were aware of Ross' talents and he was selected in the second round by the Cincinnati Bengals for whom he had 41 catches resulting in All Rookie team selection. He would go on to play 10 pro football seasons in the NFL and USFL.
