Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross Inducted Into NFF Leadership Hall of Fame

Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has been in the news lately after hosting a fundraising dinner for President Trump’s re-election campaign. This led to criticism from a wide receiver on his own team in Kenny Stills, as well as many in everyday life. However, Ross made headlines for a different reason due to the work that he has done in the community during his tenure running the Dolphins.

Wednesday, the Dolphins owner was inducted into the National Football Foundation Leadership Hall of Fame as part of the team’s Kickoff Luncheon. This organization is focused on celebrating the good in the game of football, which includes charity work in the community and fighting against inequality, and Ross is the 12th inductee into the Hall of Fame.

“Owning the Dolphins is like owning a utility company,” Ross said, according to the team website. “It impacts an entire community. I’m so proud we have been able to impact South Florida way beyond football.”

Since taking over as 95 percent owner of the Dolphins in January 2009, Ross has been involved in multiple endeavors to support education, health, and youth football in the South Florida communities. He has been the driving force behind the Dolphins Cancer Challenge, a fund that has raised more than $32 million for cancer research.

Additionally, he created RISE (Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality), which is an organization dedicated to improving race relations through the unifying power of sports. RISE came under criticism as part of the discussion surrounding Ross’ support of President Trump, but the organization was created with the focus of improving the country.

Finally, Ross has directly impacted the youth in Florida. He has been a supporter of the Junior Dolphins Program, which educates about the health and safety of football, and he has used training camp as a platform to reach out to local teams and high schools. Ross brought a different group to training camp every single day.

“He clearly has defined himself as a leader whose life deserves to be emulated,” chairman Archie Manning said of Ross. “We are extremely proud to add his name to the esteemed list of inductees in the NFL Leadership Hall of Fame.”