"The chance that cornerback Kevin Ross would eventually wind up in the Chiefs' Hall of Fame was slim when he joined the team in 1984 as a seventh-round draft pick from Temple. It certainly didn't get any better in his first game, when he was repeatedly beaten for long gains and touchdowns by the Pittsburgh Steelers — though the Chiefs won a high-scoring battle. Ross overcame the humble beginnings and rough start to become one of the best cornerbacks in Chiefs history. He wound up playing in Kansas City through 1993 and returned to finish his career with the Chiefs in 1997 after three seasons away with Atlanta and San Diego. His playing career received its final validation Thursday, when the Chiefs announced him as this year's entrant to the team's Hall of Fame. "I don't think you plan for things like this," Ross said. "When I came to the Chiefs, I was just hoping to be part of the team and part of the league. So this is huge. This is real big." Ross was at times overshadowed by the other Chiefs defensive backs of his era. Cornerback Albert Lewis and safeties Deron Cherry and Lloyd Burruss combined to play in 11 Pro Bowl games. Lewis, Cherry and Burruss are already members of the Chiefs' Hall of Fame. "I'm not disrespecting anybody that ever played for the Kansas City Chiefs or in the secondary, but I don't think there will ever be another secondary like that," Ross said. "Those guys were unique. We played together for a long, long time. We were all great leaders." But Ross slowly developed a reputation as pound for pound one of the NFL's toughest players. He wasn't the biggest or fastest cornerback but eventually established himself as one of the elite players at his position." Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/03/2697444/cornerback-ross-picked-for-chiefs.html
