John Ellis Ross III (born November 27, 1995) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...

and was selected ninth overall by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

in the

2017 NFL draft The 2017 NFL draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

. He held the record for the fastest recorded

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

at the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

with 4.22 seconds before being broken by

Xavier Worthy Xavier Worthy (born April 27, 2003) is an American professional football wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, earning three All-Big 12 honors. Worthy ...

's time of 4.21 seconds in 2024.

Early life

As a child, Ross played in

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

's All-Star league. Ross attended Jordan High School in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

. He played

and

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

and ran track. As a senior, Ross finished third in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

at the 2013

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CI ...

Division 1 final, with a time of 10.66 seconds. He also recorded a time of 21.56 seconds in the 200m. Regarded as a four-star recruit by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, Ross was ranked as the No. 49 overall prospect in the state of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He committed to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

to play

College career

Ross played in all 13 games as a

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

at Washington in 2013. He finished the year with 16 receptions for 208 yards and one

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

as a receiver and had 720

kick return A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of atta ...

yards and a

. In 2014, he played in 13 of 14 games, with seven starts as a receiver and four as a cornerback. That season, he had 17 receptions for 371 yards and four touchdowns as a receiver, 12 tackles and an

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

as a cornerback, and had 938 return yards and two touchdowns. Ross missed the 2015 season after suffering a

torn ACL An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

during spring practices. Ross returned from the injury in 2016 and had five receptions for 90 yards with two receiving touchdowns and a kick return touchdown in his first game back against

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

. On January 3, 2017, Ross announced his decision to forego his senior season and enter the

NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

. On February 10, 2017, it was revealed that Ross was diagnosed with a torn labrum in his shoulder. He injured his shoulder earlier during the 2016 season, and re-aggravated it on December 31 in a loss against

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

in the

2016 Peach Bowl The 2016 Peach Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2016, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. It was one of the 2016–17 NCAA football bowl games, 2016–17 bowl games concluding the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS footbal ...

in the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual single-elimination tournament, knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, D ...

. The injury required surgery, but Ross decided to put it on hold until after the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

and

pro day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

workouts.

College statistics

Professional career

Pre-draft

Coming out of college, Ross was predicted to be selected in the first round by draft experts and analysts. He was considered one of the top wide receivers and was ranked the second best by NFL analyst

Bucky Brooks William Eldridge "Bucky" Brooks Jr. (born January 22, 1971) is an American sportswriter and former professional football player. He played for five National Football League (NFL) teams in a five-year career, primarily as a kick returner. He was ...

before the combine. As a top wide receiver prospect, he received an invitation to the

and broke Chris Johnson's 4.24 record time in the

. Ross finished with a 4.22, but strained his calves while pulling up at the end of his run. The calf injuries hindered his ability to complete all the set combine drills or run his second attempt at the 40-yard dash. Ross' 4.22 40 yard dash time would stand as the NFL Combine record for 7 years, broken by

in 2024 with a 4.21. Ross attended Washington's Pro Day, but only ran positional drills. The next day, he had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder. He was ranked as the third best wide receiver prospect in the draft by

and was ranked the second best wide receiver prospect by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' and NFLDraftScout.com.

Cincinnati Bengals

2017 season

The

selected Ross in the first round (9th overall) of the

. He was the third wide receiver to be selected after Corey Davis and Mike Williams. On May 7, 2017, the Bengals signed Ross to a four-year, $17.1 million contract with a signing bonus of $10.6 million. Ross competed with Brandon LaFell,

Cody Core Cody Dylan Core (born April 17, 1994) is an American former professional football wide receiver. He played college football at Mississippi and was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL draft. He has also been a me ...

, Tyler Boyd and Josh Malone throughout training camp to be the starting wide receiver alongside A. J. Green. Although he was a first round pick, head coach

Marvin Lewis Marvin Roland Lewis Jr. (born September 23, 1958) is an American professional American football, football coach. He recently served as the assistant head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). Lewis was previously ...

named him the sixth wide receiver on the depth chart to begin the regular season. On September 14, 2017, Ross made his professional regular season debut on ''

Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to ...

'' against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

after missing the season-opener due to a knee injury. He fumbled his first and only carry of the game, and was subsequently benched after gaining only 12 rushing yards as the Bengals lost, 13–9. That carry proved to be his only touch of his rookie season, as he was only active for two out of the next 10 games and did not record any statistics. A knee injury caused him to miss Weeks 3–5 while the rest were healthy scratches. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on December 4, 2017, with a shoulder injury, ending his rookie season. His debut season was variously described as "wasted", "disappointing" and "disastrous", with Lewis coming under some criticism for his management of Ross.

2018 season

In the 2018 season opener against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

, Ross recorded his first professional touchdown on a three-yard reception in the 34–23 victory. In the 2018 season, Ross had 21 receptions for 210 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns.

2019 season

During Week 1 against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

, Ross posted seven catches for 158 receiving yards and two touchdowns, but the Bengals lost a close game, 21–20. During Week 2 against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

, Ross finished with four catches for 112 receiving yards and a touchdown as the Bengals lost, 41–17. In only the first two games of the 2019 season, Ross compiled more receiving yards than his initial two NFL seasons combined. On October 2, 2019, the Bengals placed Ross on

as a result of his shoulder injury. He was designated for return from injured reserve on November 13, 2019, and began practicing with the team again. On December 3, 2019, Ross was activated from injured reserve. Overall, Ross finished the 2019 season with 28 receptions for 506 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns.

2020 season

On May 2, 2020, the Bengals declined the fifth-year option on Ross' contract, making him a free agent in 2021. He was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

list by the team on August 12, after he left training camp to tend to his son who tested positive for the virus. He was activated from the list on August 23. On October 30, 2020, Ross

tweeted A tweet (officially known as a post since 2023) is a short status update on the social networking site Twitter (officially known as X since 2023) which can include images, videos, GIFs, straw polls, hashtags, mentions, and hyperlinks. Around ...

that "It's not a secret that I have requested a trade." Despite Ross' statement, he was not traded by the NFL trade deadline. He had been placed on the Bengals' inactive list four of the Bengals previous five games as a "healthy scratch" before he was placed on injured reserve on November 14, 2020, after suffering a foot injury in practice. He finished the season playing in three games recording only two receptions for 17 yards and zero touchdowns.

New York Giants

On March 19, 2021, Ross signed a one-year $2.5 million contract with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

. He was placed on injured reserve on September 1, 2021, to start the season. He was activated on October 2. In a week 4 game against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

, Ross saw his first playing time of the season due to injuries to wide receivers Sterling Shepard and

Darius Slayton Darius Slayton (born January 12, 1997) is an American professional football wide receiver for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Auburn Tigers and was selected by the Giants in the fif ...

. Ross recorded three catches for 77 yards and a touchdown in the 27–21 win. He appeared in ten games in the 2021 season. He finished with 11 receptions for 224 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.

Kansas City Chiefs

On January 9, 2023, Ross signed a reserve/future contract with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

. On July 26, Ross informed the Chiefs he was retiring. They subsequently placed him on the reserve/retired list. On November 27, 2023, Ross announced he was seeking a comeback and would be coming out of retirement. The Chiefs waived him the same day, and he entered free agency.

Philadelphia Eagles

On May 23, 2024, Ross signed a one-year contract with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He was released on August 27. He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 24. Ross was released by the Eagles on December 3.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

*
Washington Huskies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, John 1995 births Living people Players of American football from Long Beach, California American football wide receivers American football return specialists American football cornerbacks Washington Huskies football players Cincinnati Bengals players New York Giants players Kansas City Chiefs players Philadelphia Eagles players