Dan Ross ( American football ) Daniel R . Ross ( February 9 , 1957 – May 16 , 2006 ) was a professional American football tight end who played for the Cincinnati Bengals ( 1979 - 1985 ) , the Seattle Seahawks ( 1985 ) , and the Green Bay Packers ( 1986 ) . He also played for the New Orleans / Portland Breakers of the USFL in 1984 - 1985 . College football . Before his NFL career , Ross played football at Northeastern University . As a senior , he was a first team selection on the College Football All - America Team , and is widely considered to be the best football player ever to play for Northeastern University . Ross left as the school ' s all time leader in receptions ( 153 ) , receiving touchdowns ( 13 ) and receiving yards ( 2 , 343 ) , and set the single season record for those categories as well ( 68 receptions for 988 yards and 7 touchdowns in his senior season ) . After his senior year , Northeastern retired jersey No . 84 in his honor . NFL career . After graduating college in 1979 , he was selected by the Bengals with the 30th pick in the second round of the 1979 NFL Draft . Ross ' best season was in 1981 , when he recorded 71 receptions for 910 yards and 5 touchdowns , assisting the Bengals to Super Bowl XVI . His 71 receptions were a single season franchise record , and would remain so until Carl Pickens recorded 99 receptions in 1995 . Ross had an outstanding performance in the Super Bowl , recording a record 11 receptions for 104 yards and 2 touchdowns . His receptions , receiving yards , and receiving touchdowns were all the most by a tight end in Super Bowl history . Unfortunately for Ross , his team lost the game 26 - 21 , preventing him from being the likely winner of the Super Bowl MVP award . In addition to his impressive Super Bowl performance , Ross was the Bengals leading receiver in both their playoff wins that year , recording 6 receptions for 71 yards in their 28 - 21 win over the Buffalo Bills and 5 receptions for 69 yards in their AFC title win over the San Diego Chargers , a game known as the Freezer Bowl . Ross went on to make his first and only Pro Bowl selection in 1982 , recording 47 receptions for 508 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 9 - game season shortened by a players strike . In 1984 , Ross briefly left the NFL to play for the New Orleans Breakers and later the Portland Breakers in the newly formed United States Football League . He returned to play for the Bengals in 1985 , but finished the season with the Seattle Seahawks . Ross joined the Packers for the following season , and then retired in 1987 . In his 8 NFL seasons , Ross recorded 290 receptions for 3 , 419 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns . Ross later said that as a veteran of a small college not known for its football program , he was grateful for a chance to play in the big leagues . " Just getting drafted was a thrill . You don ' t expect it from the school I went to . At the time , you don ' t expect to play in the National Football League , and especially somebody taking you with the 30th overall pick . It ' s like ' oh geez they must see something I don ' t ' . " Subsequent career . Ross later became president and co - owner of WPWB , an independent TV station in Riviera Beach , Florida . In 2004 , he was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame . He is the first Northeastern University player ever to be enshrined . Death . Ross died on May 16 , 2006 , after collapsing at his home in Atkinson , New Hampshire , shortly after returning from a jog . He died at the Merrimack Valley Hospital in Haverhill , Massachusetts . Trivia . Ross ' s record 11 receptions in a Super Bowl is now shared by three other players :