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Bengals 50: Dan Ross, setting a new tone for tight ends

Related Topics: Tight end, Dan Ross

Dan Ross was another small-school find for Paul Brown, who picked the 6-foot, 4-inch, 238-pound tight end out of Northeastern in the second round of the 1979 draft.

In the Bengals' quick passing offense, Ross quickly became a favorite of Ken Anderson up the seam, catching 97 passes in his first two seasons. In 1981, Ross exploded, catching 71 passes for 910 yards and five touchdowns as the Bengals went to Super Bowl XVI.

Then, in that game against San Francisco, Ross caught a Super Bowl record 11 passes for 104 yards. It was a record that would eventually be tied by Jerry Rice and Wes Welker and eventually surpassed by Demaryius Thomas in Super Bowl XLVIII.